Isn't Life Strange
by LadyNiko
Summary: the Queen is after Daisy O'Mega and it's up to the team to find out why
1. Chapter I Daisy's Flight

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Chapter I "Isn't Life Strange?  
  
A turn of the page  
  
A book without lines..." Isn't Life Strange, the Moody Blues  
  
Daisy O'Mega sat working the controls of the small ship she had stolen from the Tortuna spaceport. She was running from the Queen of the Crown's agents and from every low-life hood in the galaxy. She had to make it to Earth. It was her only chance of survival. She bullied, begged, pleaded and prayed that the small ship would make it.  
  
The red-haired outlaw wished that she still had the SS Cheyenne battlecruiser. There was nothing like a having your own battlecruiser. It made people think twice about attacking you.  
  
A song from late twentieth century Earth floated through her head as she allowed herself to sit back in the pilot's chair for a moment. It was a haunting melody and one line in particular tugged at her: "Isn't life strange? A word we arrange..."  
  
Oh yes, thought Daisy, life was definitely strange. She, one of the most wanted criminals in the galaxy, was running to the Galaxy Rangers and BETA Mountain, the law-enforcement of the galaxy. It was either turn to them or risk being caught by someone like MaCross, who would just love to turn her over to the Queen. That was not an option she was willing to consider.  
  
When she had blasted out of Tortuna two days ago, she had had the Queen's agents hot on her heels and so hadn't time to look for a better ship. The first thing she had done was to contact BETA mountain, telling them what she wanted in exchange for the information she had. At first, BETA and, in particular, one Commander Walsh had tried to stonewall her. But when she had mentioned the Queen of the Crown, the Commander had quit trying to put her off.  
  
"Look, Commander Walsh, I know I'm not the most believable of people, but I'm not bluffing on this. Not when it comes to the Queen of the Crown, I'm not."  
  
"Why don't you tell me what it is, Miss O'Mega?"  
  
"On an open channel, Commander, and before you agree to my terms? I don't think so," Daisy said in her rolling Irish accent. "Look, you know what I want, Commander. It's either yes or no."  
  
"Yes, Miss O'Mega," Commander Walsh answered. "You'll get a full pardon and immunity. Now, where are you, so I can send someone to bring you in?"  
  
"Tortuna - with more than a few 'old friends' on my tail and the Queen's agents right behind them," Daisy said.  
  
Commander Walsh frowned and thought about who he could send out there that he trusted.  
  
The Series-5 team were the only ones experienced enough, and they were split up on different frontier planets on assignments-- Walter "Doc" Hartford, the best computer hacker/wizard in the league and Captain Zachary Foxx, the team leader were back on the planet Tarkon where they were needed to keep Princess Maya and her father, King Spartos, from going for each other's throats over the technology ban issue.  
  
The other two members of the Series-5 team-- Rangers Shane "Goose" Gooseman, whose genetic engineering gave him enhanced bio-defenses, and Niko, whose already strong psychic powers were enhanced by the Series-5 experimental implant were on the planet Granna with the Kiwi Ambassador Zozo.  
  
Niko was still recovering from her run-in with the Scarecrow entity and had not yet been given pa clean bill of health by the doctor. That left Goose. Granna was in another star system all together. Even if he did get Goose to take off right away, it would still take him some time to catch up with her.  
  
He answered a moment later, "It will take me some time to get everything in place, Miss O'Mega. Can you find some place to lay low until I can send someone for you?"  
  
"I can find somewhere, but for how long is the question. The Queen has a pretty hefty sum on my head right now, and it's not going to be easy," Daisy replied.  
  
"Four days. Find a hole and lay low until then, Miss O'Mega."  
  
"I can't stay on Tortuna, it's gotten a tad uncomfortable for me right now." Daisy didn't need to elaborate.  
  
"That's the best I can do, Miss O'Mega, so do whatever it takes and find yourself a hideaway. Just contact me in four days." Commander Walsh said.  
  
"Aye, Commander, I'll contact you in four days," Daisy said, leaning forward. "Daisy O'Mega out."  
  
She broke the connection and launched the small ship into hyperspace as a group of ships began to converge on her position. None of her normal hiding spots would work, not with the price the Queen had placed on her head-- attached to her body being an option. No, there was only one place where she could hide, Earth, more specifically, the hill-country of Ireland, and it would take her about four days to get there.  
  
That had been two days ago, and since then she had been jumping in and out of hyperspace, trying to stay one step ahead of the Queen's agents and all the scum who had come out looking for a chance to collect on the bounty out for her. If anyone found her, it would be MaCross of the Black Hole Gang. They had worked together on one too many schemes. He was still holding a grudge against her that she would not be "his gal," highly jealous that she had fallen instead for the rugged, blond Galaxy Ranger Shane Gooseman instead. He was looking for a way to make her pay for that. Her worry that MaCross would find her had kept her from sleeping or leaving the cockpit for long since she had blasted out of Tortuna.  
  
She was growing hopeful that she might actually make it to Earth. Suddenly, a warning klaxon went off and the ship was jerked out of hyperspace. Daisy was thrown from her seat. She lay winded on the floor for a second before she scrambled back into her seat and strapped on her safety harness.  
  
She was checking her sensors to see why she had been pulled from hyperspace when MaCross's cackling came from the speaker in the middle of the control panel.  
  
"Look who got caught in my little trap, none other than the fastest gunslinger in the galaxy, Daisy O'Mega." MaCross sneered.  
  
"MaCross, you dog! I should have killed you long ago and left your stinking hide to rot!" Daisy said as she made ready to release the emergency beacon she had modified after her conversation with Walsh. It was encoded and labeled to the attention of Commander Walsh of BETA Mountain, Earth.  
  
"You've got the Queen of the Crown highly upset with you, Daisy. The money she's offering for you is enough for me to retire a happy man," MaCross said.  
  
"You haven't caught me yet, MaCross!" Daisy snarled as she gunned the engines of the small ship. What it lacked for speed in its hyperdrives, it made up for it in maneuverability. While whipping the ship around, she called out orders to the computer. "Computer, plot as straight course to Earth as you can manage and get me the hell out of here."  
  
The computer acknowledged with a single beep as Daisy brought the weapon systems on-line. The ship did not have heavy weapons, but she hoped that it would be enough until the computer could finish its calculations for the jump to Earth...  
  
* * * * *  
  
Back on Earth, Commander Walsh sat behind his desk lost in heavy thoughts after ending the transmission with Daisy. Just what information did Daisy O'Mega have on the Queen of the Crown that had her running for cover? From what he knew of her from various sources, Daisy had her own sense of honor. She never went out looking for a fight, and she tried to avoid getting innocent people involved. He stirred himself a few moments later and punched a button on his desk. He asked his aide to have someone tell Dr. Nagata that he would like to see him right away. Then he asked his aide to get Shane Gooseman on the line for him.  
  
"Yes, sir," the aide replied crisply.  
  
A few minutes later, Dr. Nagata arrived at his office, and the aide appeared briefly in the doorway behind Dr. Nagata to inform him that Ranger Gooseman would be on the link shortly, he was enroute to the spaceport to Ranger-Two.  
  
Dr. Nagata's body had been too heavily damaged to survive when he had been attacked by a group of rogue supertroopers, so he had his mind placed in a specially created floating metal disk. He floated to a stop in front of Commander Walsh's desk. "You wanted to see me right away?"  
  
Commander Joseph Walsh answered, "I've just been in contact with Daisy O'Mega who has some vital information on the Queen of the Crown."  
  
"Daisy O'Mega?!"  
  
"Yes, and in exchange for her information she wants immunity and a full pardon."  
  
"Is her information reliable?"  
  
"It's reliable enough to have the Queen of the Crown hot on her tail and offering an outrageous amount for her capture when she blasted out of Tortuna." Commander Walsh answered.  
  
The comm unit beeped discreetly, and the aide said, "Sir, I've got Ranger Gooseman on the line."  
  
"Put him through immediately."  
  
"Yes, sir," the aide answered and his face was replaced by Goose's.  
  
"Yes, Commander?" Goose said, looking a bit windblown. He had his white Hardee hat sitting back on his forehead and a red kerchief knotted around his throat. He wore his blue, polo-style uniform shirt with his badge visible high on the left side of his shirt, over his heart.  
  
"An unusual situation has just come up and I need you to go to Tortuna right away."  
  
"Tortuna? Why, what's on Tortuna, sir?" Goose asked. He had no fondness for the place.  
  
"Not what, but who: Daisy O'Mega." Commander Walsh said.  
  
"Daisy O'Mega, sir? What has she done now?" Goose asked. He had once asked, not ordered, her not to run, but she had chosen to go ahead and run and remain an outlaw.  
  
"She has gotten some sensitive information on the Queen of the Crown and wants to give it to us," Commander Walsh answered.  
  
"So, what's in it for her? Daisy never makes a move without looking to make a profit off it," Goose stated. He had had more than one run-in with Daisy, the most important one when the team had gone undercover as renegades, and he had taken up the task of distracting Daisy by paying court to her while Doc had hacked into the computer system to let BETA know what Daisy had planned as her next robbery target.  
  
"Immunity and a full pardon when she reaches Earth. Which is why I'm sending you to Tortuna. I want you to escort Daisy here," Commander Walsh answered.  
  
"Just how in the world did Daisy get this information, and is it worth the price she's asking?" Goose asked.  
  
"She couldn't say what she had because it wasn't a secure channel. But whatever information Daisy has, it's important enough to the Queen to offer a large reward for her capture and to send a full complement of her troops and Slaverlords after her."  
  
Goose let out a low whistle, "Then it really must be something big, sir."  
  
"Yes, and if the Queen of the Crown is planning an all out offensive against Earth or one of the League worlds, then we need to know about it and be prepared to stop it."  
  
"I'm curious sir," said Goose. "Why me? Why not Zach or Doc?"  
  
"I'm sending you because I need to keep Doc and Zach on Tarkon for the moment to keep Princess Maya from blowing up out of control and starting a civil war against her father. They're at each other's throats with the technology issue again. Also, Doc and Zachary would stick out on the streets of Tortuna."  
  
"One last question, sir. What about Niko and Zozo? I don't want to leave them stranded here on Granna."  
  
Goose was more concerned about Niko than Zozo. Their recent assignment had been to Granna to collect soil samples and to check out how the new Kiwi grain strand was adapting to the growing conditions on the planet, when the Scarecrow had decided to put in an appearance at the harvest festival. Scarecrow had ambushed Niko and shot her. She had been knocked off her cyberhorse, Mel, and had broken several bones in the fall. In addition to those injuries, she had become seriously ill with pneumonia. They had all been worried about her, and though she was on the mend, she was still weak.  
  
"I'll be sending a cruiser to pick them up as soon as Niko is ready to travel." Commander Walsh answered.  
  
Goose was satisfied with what he was told. "Thank you. That's all I wanted to know. I'll let Niko know, then leave for Tortuna immediately, sir."  
  
"Be careful Goose and remember to watch your back." Commander Walsh said in closing.  
  
"I will sir. Goose out." He ended the transmission and slumped down in the seat, lost in thought.  
  
His AI companion, Alma, a pink and blue 3-D floating eyeball, appeared on the blank screen and asked in a sultry female voice, "Goose, should I contact the tower and ask them for take-off clearance?"  
  
Goose straightened up in the seat and answered, "Yeah, go ahead and do that, Alma. I'm going to go tell Niko I'm leaving. I'll be back in under an hour. Have everything ready to go for when I get back."  
  
"Goose, you know I will," Alma said.  
  
Goose stood up and moved towards the back of the ship to the lift. "Well, I'm just making sure, Alma."  
  
Triton stood down below, looking up as Goose descended to the ground on the lift. The cyberhorse watched Goose approach. "Where to now, Goose?"  
  
"Back to the Wilsons'. I've got to tell Niko I'm leaving and gather up my stuff. Then I've got to make tracks and get to Tortuna as fast as possible." Goose stepped off the lift and walked over to Triton. He paused next to his cyberhorse for a moment and said, "Alma, raise the lift and lock up until I get back."  
  
"Yes Goose," the AI responded from Goose's wrist com-unit.  
  
"Come on, Triton, let's ride." Goose said to his cyberhorse as he swung astride him.  
  
Triton half-reared and shot forward with Goose crouched low over his neck, grinning. The two were long-time companions. Triton didn't lay on the speed until they had cleared the edges of the spaceport complex, then he leveled out into a ground-eating gallop. Soon, they were back at the Wilsons' farm and Triton began to slow as soon as the homestead was in sight, giving Goose time to catch his breath. Always eager to flaunt his appearance, Triton approached the house at an affected trot, precisely lifting and flaring each leg before setting them back down.  
  
Goose said, "Show off."  
  
Triton made no response, but lifted his head higher.  
  
On the front porch of the Wilsons' home, Niko sat on the swing with a light blanket tossed over her legs. The red-haired Ranger watched Goose's approach and saw that Triton was showing off again. She shifted her weight and winced as her left collar bone reminded her that it still wasn't fully healed by sending sharp, needle-like pains down to her fingertips in both arms.  
  
Tired of staying inside, she had bullied Goose and Doc Addams into letting her out of the house and sitting outside today. Doc Addams had been the easier one to convince, while Goose had been surprisingly reluctant. She was impatient to return to duty but knew that Commander Walsh would not even think about it until she had been given a clean bill of health.  
  
Triton pulled to a flashy stop next to the front porch in front of Niko. Goose vaulted from the saddle to land at her feet.  
  
Niko grinned. "Show-offs!"  
  
Goose returned the grin as he straightened up, "Well, I just couldn't let Triton make me look shabby."  
  
"You've been spending way too much time around Doc, Goose. You're starting to worry about image." Niko teased.  
  
"Who, me? Never."  
  
"I can't help it if you choose to look shabby, Goose, but I refuse to," Triton said with his nose in the air.  
  
"Ouch! Even my horse is attacking me. Well, I guess it's a good thing that Commander Walsh gave me the assignment he did, because you can't go with me, Triton."  
  
"What assignment?" Niko asked as she straightened up in the swing seat.  
  
"Tortuna. I've got to go and escort Daisy O'Mega to Earth, to BETA Mountain to be precise." Goose answered.  
  
"What? Daisy O'Mega? Did she finally get captured?" Niko asked.  
  
"I don't know exactly how it all happened, but Daisy O'Mega is turning to BETA for help..." Goose perched on the porch railing and related to Niko what he knew of the story and what Commander Walsh wanted him to do.  
  
Niko's green eyes went wide with surprise as she listened to him. After he was finished, she shook her head in disbelief and said, "Daisy O'Mega, the Queen of the Crown and Tortuna-- what a combination!"  
  
"You're telling me!" Goose replied, sliding back to his feet. "Now, I've got to get my bags packed and get out of here."  
  
Niko swung her legs down off the swing and pulled off the blanket covering them. She shifted her weight forward and pushed herself to her feet.  
  
Goose stared at her in confusion, "What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Helping you pack," Niko answered, taking a step towards the door.  
  
Goose was about to protest when Niko cut him off, "Look, Gooseman, I'm tired of being coddled by you! Of all people, I would never have expected you to act this way, but I've had enough!"  
  
Goose was caught off guard. He had never expected to have Niko's temper directed at him and now he didn't know what to say. "But--"  
  
"But nothing, Shane!" Niko interrupted, with a slash of her right hand. "I know I'm not back to a hundred percent yet, but I'm not exactly at death's door anymore." She turned and walked into the farmhouse, leaving a flabbergasted Shane staring after her.  
  
A slight clearing of a throat brought him out of his stunned state. He whirled, hands on his holsters, ready to pull out his guns. Mr. Wilson stood on the ground next to Triton, wiping his hands on a well worn rag.  
  
"I overheard the last part of what she said, Ranger Gooseman," the older man said, stuffing the rag into a pocket in his overalls and adjusting his hat. "She's right, you know. You have been acting like she would break if you even looked at her wrong."  
  
Goose frowned and growled in frustration. He didn't know if he should punch something or go after her.  
  
"Well boy, what are you waiting for?"  
  
Goose dashed across the porch and into the house.  
  
Inside he found Niko sitting on the edge of her bed, staring off into space.  
  
"Niko..." he began, then stopped. He had no clue what to say. "You were right.... I'm-- sorry."  
  
She didn't turn around but said, "I'm not made out of glass, Goose."  
  
Goose shifted his weight and said, "Yeah, I know..."  
  
Niko turned to look at him, "Shane, I've twice survived being shot by Scarecrow, and having him invade my mind and try to take it over on no less than three occasions. I think that ought to tell you something about me."  
  
Goose shifted his weight again. "I'm sorry, Niko. I guess I just didn't realize what I was doing."  
  
Niko looked at him steadily.  
  
After a long moment of silence, he said, "I've got to get packing. Alma's prepping Ranger-Two for me and should be ready to go by the time I get back to the spaceport."  
  
He moved out of the doorway and went into his room. He grabbed his duffel bag out of the closet and tossed it on the bed. By the time he had grabbed his dress uniform out of the closet, Niko had walked into the room.  
  
Goose looked at her in confusion once more.  
  
Niko shook her head and said, "I may be mad at you Goose, but that doesn't mean I won't help you. Besides, you're on a deadline."  
  
Shane breathed easier. At least she wasn't totally mad at him. He handed her his dress uniform and she carefully folded it up using her right hand to do all the folds. She put it in the bottom of the bag and then turned to accept the stack of uniform shirts he handed her.  
  
They worked in silence and Goose was unsure of what, if anything to say. Nothing in his upbringing had prepared him for the situation he now found himself in. Before he could work up the nerve to say anything, all his clothes had been packed in the duffel bag and the bag had been closed.  
  
Niko stood up and tried to lift the duffel bag, but couldn't. She muttered a smothered curse and said, "I guess I've still got a ways to go before I get all my strength back..."  
  
Goose stepped forward and swung the bag up on his shoulder. He placed a comforting hand on her right shoulder and said, "You'll be back to your old self in no time." He paused and smiled, "Especially without me here hovering around you."  
  
He turned to go, leaving Niko standing next to the bed.  
  
She waited for a moment, hoping he'd turn around and say something more to confirm what she suspected about his feeling for her. The second passed and he didn't turn around. She cursed to herself and with an adjustment to the sling supporting her left arm, she took off after him. She caught up with him at the top of the stairs and walked down next to him, not saying a word.  
  
Goose could tell that Niko was still mad at him. He was saved from saying anything though by his watch-comm unit beeping for his attention. He reached the bottom of the stairs and answered the beeping.  
  
"Yeah, Alma, what's your status?" Goose answered.  
  
"Granna Tower has given us clearance to take off whenever you're ready, Goose, and I've completed the pre-flight warm up and check-list."  
  
"Great, Alma, I'm on my way." Goose answered and shut down the link. He turned to face Niko as they stepped off the landing. "Look, I've got to go, Niko."  
  
"I know," Niko answered. She wasn't going to hear what she wanted to hear from him.  
  
"I know you want to go with me, Niko, but as you said yourself, you're not back to one hundred percent yet. You know Commander Walsh won't let you return to duty until Doc Adams gives you a clean bill of health. But, don't worry about being stranded here. Commander Walsh promised he'd send a ship for you whenever you were ready to head back to Earth."  
  
Niko looked away and said nothing.  
  
Looking at her, Goose finally figured out something to do. He reached out with one hand to lightly hold her chin. He gently turned Niko's head towards him, and leaned over to place a light kiss on the one cheek as his hand lightly stroked to opposite cheek.  
  
This time, it was Niko's turn to be at a loss for words.  
  
Goose let go of her chin, and gave her cheek another light caress before turning to go. Over his shoulder, he said, "I'll see you in a few days."  
  
Outside, Goose said his farewells to Zozo and his hosts as he secured his duffle bag to the saddle on Triton's back. Then, he was up on Triton and they were heading at full speed to the spaceport.  
  
* * * * *  
  
In an empty sector of space somewhere between Earth and Tortuna, Daisy O'Mega wished she could be somewhere else. She was in a bad situation. She didn't know how in known space she was going to escape from MaCross now, her only hope was to hold out long enough until the nav-computer could come up with the coordinates for the jump to lightspeed. She swung her small ship around and brought the weapons systems on-line.  
  
She growled, "You're going to have to fight to capture me, MaCross!" and opened fire on his ship.  
  
The shots strafed along the outer hull of the larger ship, doing little or no damage. But, they accomplished what she wanted-- to distract MaCross and give her more time. She brought the ship around once more and opened fire. This time her shots just bounced off the deflector screens.  
  
Daisy cursed and checked the nav-computer. The monitor displayed a countdown until it was ready to jump. Two more minutes. Just then, a warning tone went off. They were trying to get a fix on her for a tractor beam.  
  
"Not if I can help it!" she swore, and turned the ship about.  
  
She was just a hairsbreadth too late. The tractor beam got a lock on her, and she was caught. The ship jerked as it was pulled in closer to the bigger ship. Daisy was thrown hard against the safety harness. She immediately eased on the throttle and thought for a second. Then, she had a wild idea. It probably wouldn't work, but at this point, anything was better than nothing. Instead of putting the engines in full reverse and trying to power her way out of the tractor beam, she opened the throttle back up on the small ship and jumped into the tractor beam. If she could just pull this off....  
  
She checked the weapons systems status and smiled grimly; she was going to use the pair of torpedoes to help her escape. Then, she threw the engines into full reverse, bypassing all the safety shut-offs. She was thrown against her safety harness as the ship bucked and the engines squealed in protest.  
  
"Now!" Daisy shouted, and let fly with the torpedoes. The tractor beam immediately locked on to the torpedoes, leaving Daisy free. The torpedoes exploded against the Black Hole Gang's ship, giving Daisy an opportunity to escape.  
  
She didn't waste it. She whipped the small ship up and over the pirate vessel as the tractor beam locked on to the torpedoes. She glanced at the nav computer display.  
  
Finally, it was ready to make the jump to hyperspeed. "About damn time," Daisy muttered and punched the button to make the jump.  
  
On board the Black Hole Gang's ship, MaCross turned to Patch, who passed as his second-in-command and asked, "Status?"  
  
"Tractor beam's out of commission, and we've got some minor hull damage, but that's it, MaCross. Nothing else was damaged." Patch reported.  
  
"Which way was she heading when she jumped?" was his next question.  
  
"Earth."  
  
MaCross growled. Daisy had really gone too far this time. She must be running to those wimps, the Galaxy Rangers, at BETA Mountain on Earth.  
  
"Let's go. The Queen is offering a huge reward for her capture, and I intend to collect it," MaCross said to the Black Hole Gang members who was manning the navigation station.  
  
The pirate ship swung about and jumped into hyperspace.  
  
Daisy didn't get far. About two light years from where she had left MaCross, the hyperdrive engines on the small ship burned out and she was forced to drop back to normal space. The read-outs from the diagnostic system were not promising. The engines needed major repair after the stunt she had pulled in escaping MaCross, more than she could do on her own in the middle of nowhere. She didn't have enough fuel or oxygen to make it to the nearest inhabited planet either.  
  
"Damn!" Daisy swore, slamming a gloved hand down on the armrest. She thought about her options and knew she had to send off the beacon before MaCross found her again. And he would find her again, of that she had no doubt. For MaCross, it was more than the money the Queen was offering for her capture, it was now a matter of his saving face in front of the gang. He wouldn't let her get away this time.  
  
Well, Daisy finally decided, I've got to get that beacon off and then I've got to find some place to shelter behind when MaCross comes calling. She quickly modified the beacon's nav-program, to send it towards the commercial lanes, and as soon as she had finished that, she launched the beacon. She stared at it wistfully for a moment and then scanned the area for a suitable hiding place. There, she stopped the computer in its scan, a small asteroid belt, just a short distance off the starboard bow. Perfect, she thought and moved to go take cover in the asteroid field.  
  
She powered down and drifted behind an asteroid large enough to hide her ship. She wanted to make herself as inconspicuous as possible for as long as possible. She had to give that beacon all the time she could for it to reach the commercial lanes. It was her only hope, and the only hope for the frontier world that the Queen planned to launch a full scale attack against. She prayed that it would be enough time.  
  
Instantly, the Black Hole Gang's ship leaped out of hyper-space, almost right on top of where she had been. Daisy shivered and pulled her dark brown cape closer about her. Whether it was from the dropping cabin temperature, since she had turned down the life-support to minimum levels, or her fear of what MaCross would do to her when he captured her, she didn't know. She just watched the pirate ship, waiting for the right moment to bring everything back on-line.  
  
She watched and waited as the pirate ship moved closer. "Patience, Daisy," she counseled herself, her gloved hand hovering over the power switch. As the cabin temperature steadily dropped, she wrapped her cape close about her body. She continued to watch and wait. When the moment was right, she'd power back up, but not before then.  
  
As the outlaw ship entered the asteroid belt, Daisy watched the diminishing numbers on the scanner display. Right as the ship passed her, she hit the power switch.  
  
When all the systems came back on-line immediately, Daisy moved the small ship in on the pirates' tail. She still had a trick or two left, one of them being the beacon. She checked the weapons' systems and got a lock on one of the engines. She fired away with the lasers, scoring a direct hit. The engine started shooting orange flames while smoke came billowing from it in a giant plume.  
  
In the ship, MaCross was almost thrown out of his chair when the engine was hit.  
  
"What was that?!" he roared.  
  
"Port engine's been hit."  
  
"What?!" MaCross shouted. "How did that happen?!"  
  
"She slipped in under our sensors," the reptilian-alien gang member manning the sensors answered.  
  
"Where is she now?"  
  
"I don't know. The sensors aren't picking her up."  
  
"Launch the fighters and go find her!"  
  
The order had some of the gang members rushing to the one-man fighters. They were looking forward to a good fight.  
  
Daisy noticed with satisfaction that she had scored some damage on the pirate vessel. She moved in on the engines again and let lose with another hail of laser bolts. This time, she scored damage on the starboard engine. Then, she saw the fighters launching from the ship. She commented to herself, "Ah, so you boys have decided to come out and come play with me now, have you? Well, you'll soon learn that Daisy O'Mega doesn't play nice, not when me life is on the line, I don't."  
  
She moved out from behind the pirate ship and hid behind another asteroid. She had done what damage she could to MaCross' ship by knocking both of his engines out of commission for the moment.  
  
In the pirate ship, MaCross was thrown out of his chair this time as Daisy hit the other engine, because he hadn't thought that she would be able to do that.  
  
He yelled, "What the hell was that?"  
  
"Starboard engine's out," Patch replied angrily, looking at the sensors.  
  
"Damn! Where are those fighters at?!" Why haven't they captured her yet?!"  
  
"Fighters just launched, MaCross," another gang member reported.  
  
"What's the damage report on the engines?"  
  
"Both engines off-line. Minimum four hours to repair port engine. No word yet on the starboard engine."  
  
"Once we get Daisy, how soon until we can jump to hyper-speed?"  
  
"Unknown. We can't make the jump until both engines are back on-line."  
  
"Tell the fighters that I want her taken alive! The Queen is offering twice as much for her capture if we deliver her alive!" MaCross ground out as he regained his seat.  
  
Outside the cruiser, the fighters skimmed close to the hull of the ship, looking for Daisy. They thought that they could take her by surprise. Except, when they got to where Daisy should be, she wasn't there. The fighter pilots looked around in confusion. Where was she?  
  
Just as their sensors picked her up, she came out from behind an asteroid, blasting away with her lasers. She caught them off guard, and before they could recover, she had destroyed one of the fighters. She took off, not sticking around to engage the squadron of fighters, and ducked back into the asteroid field.  
  
"Come and get me boys!" Daisy challenged as she streaked away into the asteroid field.  
  
She wove around the asteroids at high enough speeds to make even the more hardened members of the Black Hole Gang blanch and used them as cover when the fighters fired their lasers at her.  
  
The numbers of the fighters on Daisy's tail was further reduced when one of them failed to pull up in time and crashed into an asteroid.  
  
In the pirate ship, MaCross barked out orders to the fighter squadron. "Split up and have half the squadron move out of the asteroid field and get in front of her. Remember, I want her taken alive!"  
  
The squadron did as told and split up. They lost one more fighter when the pilot failed to pay attention to his instruments and got clipped by one asteroid, then went spinning out of control to crash into another.  
  
In her small ship, Daisy noted with satisfaction that the number of fighters on her tail had been reduced by one more. She saw that the squadron was splitting up and guessed what they were about. Her time was running short. She knew that she couldn't hold off a whole squadron of fighters, but she was going to lessen their number by a few before she was done.  
  
The fighter pilots wised up after that and flew more carefully within the asteroid field, while the other half of the squadron finally managed to get clear of the field. The squadron half in the clear sped forward to try and get around in front of Daisy.  
  
Daisy cursed as she struggled with the controls on the small ship. The ship wasn't moving fast enough to keep her from taking a hit or two as the fighters continued to pursue her. Her shields were almost gone. Another warning light started blinking- the engines were starting to overheat from her constant full power running and hard maneuvering. The ship had not been designed to withstand the stress she was putting it under, and not being in the best of conditions to begin with, it was now beginning to show signs of breaking down completely at any moment. Another quick glance at the sensors revealed that the other half of the fighter squadron had managed to reenter the asteroid field in front of her and were closing in for the kill.  
  
She knew, however, that the Queen had offered too much money for her to be taken alive rather than dead. That meant the fighters wouldn't dare risk killing her, not if they wanted to capture her alive. So she continued to dash and swerve among the asteroids, hoping to hold out for a little bit longer. Her engines were overheating now and on the verge of breaking down.  
  
"Damn ya' MaCross!" she cursed. Apparently, that dog of a space rat had hit her worse than she thought, or this pitiful little craft just didn't have any guts. Or both, she was starting to think.  
  
She saw a cluster of metallic asteroids up ahead. There was no way she could fly past them in her damaged state. The fighters were firing to cripple, not to kill and were doing a good job of it. Soon, Daisy's entire system overloaded and sparked as it shorted out and caught fire. Everything went off line as fire started to eat through the wiring and use up whatever oxygen was still left in the cockpit.  
  
She was starting to feel the effects of the lack of oxygen: weakness, blurred vision, and shortness of breath. She couldn't even hold up the empty fire extinguisher any longer. Just before she passed out, the last thing she heard was the securing of towlines and umbilicals. She was being boarded and there was nothing she could do about it.  
  
The gang members were smart and waited until she was unconscious before opening the hatch. In armored spacesuits, for protection from the fire and Daisy, in case she was faking it in some way, two of them boarded the small craft and pulled her from the wreckage. One spoke into his suit's com, "Etak to MaCross- We got her. She's breathed in a lot of smoke, but she'll live."  
  
"Good. Bring her back and lock her up in the brig," MaCross answered. "Just let her ship blow up. That'll cover our trail."  
  
"Yes, boss." Etak cut the transmission.  
  
MaCross turned to Patch, "Told you I'd get that little bitch."  
  
"Don't get too cocky, MaCross. Daisy's gotten out of worse."  
  
"Those other times I wasn't running the show. This time I am. I've got a score to settle with Daisy. Something I've been itchin' to do for a while. I'll punish that whore good. Besides, she's not going to get out of the Queen's Psychocrypt, which is where she's going when I'm done with her. You just man the bridge, Patch. I'll attend to our guest." MaCross said.  
  
"Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	2. Chapter II Something rotten in Denmark

Chapter II "My back is in the corner  
  
my boat is taking on water  
  
you can't wrap fire in paper  
  
and you can't rap your way out of here..."  
  
911, Cyndi Lauper  
  
Etak and the other gang member placed Daisy in the brig and secured her to the wall with super-alloy restraints. They stripped her of her weapons, cape and boots. She was left with little aside from her shirt and trousers.  
  
Daisy struggled weakly against the restraints. She already had a monster headache, as well as being still giddy and dazed from the rough handling and smoke in her lungs. She was left with little aside from her shirt and trousers.  
  
"Damn," she coughed. "They know me too bloody well." The scurvey dog, she thought. Probably heading to get a fat reward from the Queen. I hope she puts him in the cell next to mine.... Or at least gives me half a chance to murder him myself.  
  
She was hit by another coughing spasm and struggled to catch her breath. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness of her surroundings, she realized where she was: an empty cargo hold. There was nothing to pick the lock with, nothing to even sit on, even if she could reach it.  
  
To that animal on the bridge, this has got to be luxury accommodations, she thought. She tried to clear her throat, hoping to get rid of the lingering soreness in the back of it. She must have inhaled more smoke than she realized. "And not a bit of water in the hold." Well, she thought, he can haul his bloody carcass in here and do what he likes. I won't beg for his pleasure.  
  
The hold door slid open, the bright light from the corridor flooding the dingy and ill-lit cargo hold, temporarily blinding Daisy. MaCross swaggered in, full of self importance, and stood over Daisy in the near darkness of the hold after the door slid shut behind him. It was hard for her to see anything after the sudden glare of bright lights, but his menacing shadow loomed over her.  
  
She tried to be brave, despite the restraints on her arms. "So, ya' dog. Ya' caught me. You realize that others'll be after me..."  
  
His deep, evil laugh echoed off the bare metal. "I know that, Daisy-gal. I know. I'll be getting a fat reward for you. You know Daisy-gal, you wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't taken a shine to the Ranger boy..."  
  
"He's the man you'll never be, MaCross, " she snarled, putting up a brave front.  
  
MaCross gripped one of Daisy's arms tightly, while the other hand started to trace her neckline, then strayed below the neckline of her shirt.  
  
"He ain't a man," MaCross growled, "He's a freak. A Changeling!"  
  
"Go to hell, MaCross!"  
  
"We're compatible, Daisy. In more than one way, too. You shoulda stayed my gal..."  
  
"Stayed?! You bloody bastard, I was never your gal!  
  
MaCross' hands tightened their grip. The one inside her shirt began to tear the fabric. "I'm in charge now, and if I say you're my gal. You'll be my gal."  
  
Daisy began to fight against the restraints. "If I get my hands free, we'll see about who's in charge, MaCross!"  
  
MaCross laughed, "I'm not that dumb, Daisy. You ain't going to get out of those. Queen's used those on creatures with more than ten times your strength."  
  
Daisy shivered as she recognized the familiar sound of a blaster being drawn. MaCross held it right beneath her chin. "Be a good girl and I won't hurt you... much."  
  
The hand slid out of her shirt and Daisy hurt him the only way she could, with words. "You're such a poor excuse for a man that you have to hold a blaster to me to do the job."  
  
MaCross fired the blaster. Daisy screamed as every nerve felt as if it was on fire. The fire abated after a short eternity but left her weak and trembling.  
  
"Lowest setting," he explained. "Right handy gadget Queen handed out."  
  
Daisy couldn't move. It hurt too much, bringing back memories of fire.  
  
MaCross bent over her, Daisy gasped when she realized he wasn't wearing his usual green tunic shirt.  
  
"As I said before, Daisy, you shoulda stayed my gal..." he said, ripping her shirt open.  
  
Next, he drew a knife out of his belt and sliced her bra in two, exposing her chest.  
  
Daisy couldn't speak, couldn't move.  
  
MaCross put a possessive hand on her neck as the other hand went for the waist of her slacks. He ripped them off her, cackling, "Wish there was some more light in here..."  
  
She tried to distance herself from what was happening... what was going to happen. She was trying to count rivets. One... two in her left shoulder... 4...5...6 in her back...  
  
MaCross laughed, "Where's your fight now, Daisy-gal?"  
  
Daisy fought for breath. She could barely manage to turn her head to the side. She fought back a moan of pain and fear. 7...8...down her rear... She heard MaCross struggling with his belt.  
  
"Lock up, Jikke," he cackled roughly to the guard outside. "Daisy and I're gonna need our privacy." A clank as his belt hit the floor.  
  
The guard outside laughed as he shut the door and called out, "Sure boss, whatever you say."  
  
Daisy was starting to recover from the blast. She tried to kick him off her, but MaCross had been expecting it. He pushed her back down to the floor and punched her in the jaw. She heard a loud crack as her jaw was broken.  
  
MaCross' knees immobilized her legs as he bent down and hissed in her ear, "I said you were my gal, but you didn't want to listen."  
  
Daisy whimpered in pain. She fought against the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her. She would not give MaCross the benefit of seeing her sick to her stomach.  
  
There was a sharp stab of pain as MaCross forced himself into her. Daisy arched her back and cried in pain, but MaCross slapped her. "Stay down, bitch."  
  
He pushed her back to the floor with so much force that Daisy could hear her ribs crack. She fought to get even a small breath into her lungs.  
  
It seemed to go on forever. Daisy knew MaCross could be rougher with women...A few whores he had picked up last year in Sorry End didn't live to serve another john.  
  
But, in the back of her mind, Daisy knew why he was sparing her life... It was to take her to another fate, one that made what he had done to those streetwalkers look down right merciful.  
  
Finally, her abused body could take no more, and Daisy escaped into unconsciousness....  
  
* * * * *  
  
The emergency beacon that Daisy had modified cruised slowly towards the commercial space lanes, waiting to broadcast its beacon until it had reached its programmed target area. It had long since left the wreckage of Daisy's ship behind, and was making its way through the empty zone. The beacon would not reach the commercial lanes before at least another twenty Earth Standard Hours had passed.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Somewhere in hyperspace, heading back to Tortuna, Daisy O'Mega lay in tremendous pain. She had come to sometime after MaCross had finished brutalizing her and wished to escape back to the oblivion of unconsciousness. She could not name a part of her that did not ache or throb. Her arms were still tethered in the super-alloy restraints, and ached from being pulled back behind her head for so long, her broken ribs made drawing even the slightest breath painful, and her broken jaw made her whole head just throb with pain, not to mention where else she hurt because of MaCross' "tender ministrations." In short, she was a mess.  
  
"Oh Daisy, you are in trouble now," she whispered to herself, afraid to move because of the pain; afraid to sleep for fear that she would never wake up; afraid that MaCross would come back for more; afraid of what the Queen was going to do to her when MaCross handed her over to her; afraid for all those innocent people on the frontier world who were doomed to become the Queen's Slaverlords because she had failed to keep from being caught.  
  
Oh, how she wished for something to take away the pain... It was some time later, but the pain finally managed to drag her back into unconsciousness, and by the time it did, Daisy went willingly to escape the pain.  
  
On the bridge of the ship, MaCross had made contact with the Queen of the Crown and arranged to hand Daisy over to her. He was gloating over the fact that he, and no one else who had been chasing Daisy, had caught her. Oh, he was going to enjoy handing her over to the Queen all right.  
  
He looked over at Patch who was just coming on watch and asked, "How long until we reach Tortuna?"  
  
"Another twenty hours." Patch answered.  
  
"How are the engines holding out?" It had taken them several hours of repairs to bring the hyperdrive engines back on-line after Daisy had shot them up. Since then, they had been in hyperspace, heading back to Tortuna.  
  
"All readings well within safety limits."  
  
MaCross growled, "Good. I can hardly wait until we can collect that reward from the Queen of the Crown."  
  
Patch said nothing, but he gazed at the current leader of the gang through narrowed eyes. He wouldn't put it past MaCross to try and sneak off with all the reward money so he wouldn't have to share it with anyone. Until they had claimed the money for Daisy's capture and split it among everyone, he would be watching MaCross very closely....  
  
  
  
"Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	3. Chapter III Homeward Bound?

Chapter III "Why do we never get an answer  
  
When we're knocking at the door  
  
'Cause the truth is hard to swallow  
  
That's what the war of love is for!"  
  
Question, Moody Blues  
  
On the other side of the galaxy, standing at the bottom of the stairs, Niko had watched Goose leave on Triton through the windows of the Wilsons' farmhouse. She was completely flustered now. Leave it to Gooseman to do the unpredictable, she thought with a small sigh, and then leave you wondering just how in the world he manages to do it. She realized she felt completely drained, as if her argument with Goose had taken all her strength. It surprised her. Suddenly, she went white as a ghost and had to grab a hold of the banister when her knees had threatened to buckle.  
  
The Wilsons and Zozo walked in at that exact moment. Mrs. Wilson rushed forward and placed a supportive hand under her left arm, and wrapped her other arm around Niko's waist. She clucked at Niko like a mother hen, "Oh, Miss Niko, you are white as a sheet. You must have overextended yourself, child."  
  
Niko would have smiled if she'd had the energy. Only Ariel, her mentor, still called her child. She answered in a voice that sounded surprisingly thin to her, "Yes, I guess I did..."  
  
"Well, come along with me, Miss Niko, and let's get you back to bed so you can rest."  
  
Niko needed the woman to help her up the steps. She was surprised by how heavily she had to lean on her as they walked slowly up the stairs. She allowed the older woman to fuss over her because at the moment it was easier than protesting. She was half-asleep when Mrs. Wilson made some comment that jolted her wide awake.  
  
"What was that you said?" Niko asked, caught off-guard.  
  
"Oh, I just said that being in love can be very wearing in a person. It's no wonder that you are completely exhausted," Mrs. Wilson answered, fluffing up the pillows behind Niko's head.  
  
Niko blushed and murmured a non-reply.  
  
Mrs. Wilson dismissed it and said, "No need to hide it from me, young lady. I was young and in love once like you. I know what a trial it can be."  
  
Niko blushed and answered, "I didn't think I was that obvious."  
  
"You weren't, but your partner was," Mrs. Wilson said.  
  
Niko blushed bright red again. She hadn't known that. Doc and Zach hadn't said anything to her about how Goose felt when they had visited before being sent to Tarkon. And Zozo, being from Kirwin, may not know how to read human emotions very well.  
  
Mrs. Wilson finished with her fluffing of the pillows and helped Niko lay back against them. "Now, you just get some rest, Miss Niko. I'll bring a tray up with a little bit for you to eat after you've had a nice nap." She bustled out of the room, leaving Niko to ponder what she had said.  
  
Niko, though physically worn out, was too emotionally keyed up to sleep, especially after Mrs. Wilson's comments.  
  
Zozo appeared looking more than a little worried in the doorway soon after Mrs. Wilson left. "Niko, are you all right?" he asked with understandable concern in his voice, after seeing her near collapse downstairs.  
  
She smiled to relieve his worry since Zozo was a good friend. "I'm just really tired, that's all."  
  
"Oh, that's good," Zozo answered, not sure what else to say.  
  
"Zozo, do me a favor?"  
  
"Sure, Niko," Zozo replied, looking a bit brighter.  
  
"Contact Commander Walsh and let him know I'm waiting for my ride back to BETA," she said with a smile. She wanted to get back to her own quarters at BETA Mountain.  
  
"I'll go do it right away, Niko." Zozo said eagerly. He wanted to see that Niko got the best medical help that BETA had to offer, not that he didn't trust the local doctors, it was just that Niko was a good friend of his. Besides which, he wanted to see his old friend Waldo, the Andorian Ambassador, and tell him all about their wild adventure on Granna.  
  
"Thanks, Zozo, I appreciate it," Niko answered, settling back into the pillows at her back as Zozo went to go complete his task, leaving her alone.  
  
She leaned back into the pillows and tried to relax. No luck. Mrs. Wilson's comments had left her unable to sleep. She gave up on the idea of sleep at the moment and decided to meditate. On the small table next to her bed was a well worn piece of crystalline quartz. She picked it up and carefully got out of bed to sit on the floor.  
  
With the crystal in one hand, she began focusing on clearing her mind. She closed her eyes, and concentrated on slowing her breathing. It took her longer than usual be able to achieve a meditative state because her emotions were so keyed up. When she came out of her trance sometime later, she felt all the better for doing it and much more relaxed than she had been in days. While still not happy with the current situation between Goose and herself, she was no longer angry with him, only even more determined to get him to admit his feelings for her. She gingerly got back up off the floor and climbed into the bed, the last of what little strength she had at the moment quickly fading. She laid back against the pillows after putting the piece of crystal away on the nightstand and was asleep almost immediately.  
  
Zozo was true to his word and contacted Commander Walsh on Earth. He was told that there would be a ship passing by Granna the following day that was heading back to Earth. Commander Walsh said he would have the ship's commander send a shuttle down to Granna to pick them up. Zozo went by Niko's rooms a short while later to tell her his news and found her deep in meditation. Rather than disturb her, he decided that his news could wait until morning. He went to find the Wilsons and tell them that they would be leaving the next day.  
  
The next day after bidding their hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson a fond farewell, Doc Addams drove Niko and Zozo into town. He dropped them off at the spaceport to meet the shuttle that would take them to the SS Cheyenne.  
  
At the spaceport, Doc Addams gave Niko an approving smile as she insisted on seeing Mel and Triton tucked away in their transport shells herself. This was one tenacious young lady, he had said to himself on more than one occasion. The Rangers had a reputation for their tenacity, and since she had survived being attacked by that Scarecrow creature at least twice and had fought back every time, despite receiving serious injuries she was living proof of it, he thought. Her injuries had been severe enough to kill a lesser person, but she had survived and was well on the road to a full recovery.  
  
He bid Zozo a warm farewell, and then lightly cautioned Niko about not over- exerting herself. "And, as for you, Miss Niko, don't go rushing off and getting into trouble right away," the doctor cautioned.  
  
Niko answered, "Who me? Go rushing off? No, that's Goose who goes rushing off looking for trouble. Besides, Commander Walsh won't even think of letting me return to active duty until I have been given a clean bill of health by no less than three different doctors." She laughed as she shook hands with him. She bid him farewell, before turning to join Zozo and the shuttle pilot on the shuttle.  
  
As soon as everyone was strapped in, the shuttle pilot requested take-off clearance from the control tower and was given permission immediately. Shortly after that, the shuttle was docking on the SS Cheyenne, and they were truly on their way back to Earth.  
  
Niko had seen to the unloading of Mel and Triton's transport shells off the shuttle so she could make sure that both of the cyberhorses received a full power charge. She didn't know if or when she'd get a chance to do it once they reached Earth, and she had a suspicious feeling that both of the cyberhorses were going to be needed before long. Besides, she needed a sympathetic ear to pour out all her doubts and worries about the situation between her and Goose who wouldn't try and give her useless advice, and Mel and Triton were those ears.  
  
She rubbed Mel down with a soft cloth to give his metallic body a nice glossy shine and said as she worked on him, "Oh, Mel, just what am I going to do with Goose? I mean, he was programmed to be this ultimate fighting machine, but I know he's so much more than that..."  
  
"I think that spot is shiny enough, my dear. You buff it any more and you'll wear it away," a voice that had laughter in it remarked from just over Niko's right shoulder, lightly teasing her about her obsessive polishing of a spot on Mel's back.  
  
"Ariel! What are you doing here?" Niko spun around to face her mentor.  
  
"I wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing, as you haven't been writing again." replied Ariel, or rather, Ariel's image. The projection was of a spry, gray-haired older woman wearing a light green pants suit with pale yellow trim and pale yellow boots. A pair of prince nez glasses perched on the end of her nose did nothing to hide the twinkling eyes behind them.  
  
"Ariel," Niko protested, "I've been a little... well, there's been a lot on my mind... Duty and all."  
  
"Is one of those distractions a handsome young man?" the sage old woman's grin was decidedly devilish.  
  
"Oh, Ariel, what am I going to do with him?! I know he has feelings for me, but I can't get him to admit it."  
  
"I know, my dear," Ariel said with a smile. "It didn't take much for me to read his feelings for you as well. He was practically broadcasting them after you had been attacked by that Scarecrow creature. Do you return those feelings, dear?"  
  
"Of course I do!" Then, stalling a bit, "Well, he's a good man... a good friend..."  
  
"That's not what I asked, child." Ariel's grin was ear-to-ear.  
  
Niko sighed, "Yes, I think Shane's very handsome. I ... care about him."  
  
"You're avoiding the word as much as he is, my dear," Ariel teased.  
  
Niko sighed in frustration and sat down, "Ariel, how can I get him to admit it? I tried on Granna, but he just didn't seem to get the hint..."  
  
"Well, first of all, dear, you have to admit it to yourself."  
  
"Easier said than done," admitted Niko. "I don't know when I started to think of him..."  
  
"As more than just a friend?" Ariel questioned wisely.  
  
Niko nodded. "Worse yet," she said, "I think I first realized it when I started mouthing off at a Princess."  
  
Ariel tutted at her favorite student, "Niko..."  
  
She blushed bright red and said, "I was jealous. He was flirting with her, and I was jealous."  
  
Ariel's projection just shimmered as she waited for Niko to continue.  
  
She sat down. "Ariel, I couldn't believe what I was saying."  
  
Ariel fought back a grin. Niko wouldn't appreciate it very much if she laughed right now. Instead she said, "Oh, Niko..."  
  
"And when I thought about it...I scared myself. I don't know...I always thought he was handsome, but I start thinking about him, and..." She blushed.  
  
Ariel said nothing, but waited patiently for her to continue.  
  
"...And I don't know how to describe it..." Niko sighed. "Before this incident with the Scarecrow, I had just told myself that he enjoyed his lady-killer lifestyle too much to be interested. But, I could hear him..."  
  
"Hear him?" Ariel questioned, puzzled. "Niko, what do you mean, 'hear him?'"  
  
"One time...He told me that he was in a trap. He warned me to get out before I was caught." Niko shook her head. "The radio was out on the ship. Goose couldn't tell us that he'd canceled an autodestruct. He... was under a lot of stress... I heard him in my mind, Ariel." she shook her head. "He told me he used his badge."  
  
Ariel looked at her in surprise. She hadn't heard this before...  
  
"According to BETA's database, he shouldn't have that ability. I guess it blew something open in both of us."  
  
Ariel just thought for a moment.  
  
"Ever since, it's like there's a... link between us. I sometimes can hear what he's thinking, and when we were on Granna, I just sensed something. We were dancing at the Harvest Ball. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but..." She blushed again.  
  
"Out with it, Niko," Ariel said. Her student was being much too missish about this.  
  
"We got into a pretty serious conversation..."  
  
She was dragging her feet on this, Ariel noticed.  
  
"His thoughts through the whole thing were... romantic. I never expected him to start thinking of me that way. He was dancing with a few farmer's daughters, but when he was dancing with me, it was different. I was half- expecting him to kiss me right on the dance floor." Looking up at Ariel and blushing, she said, "I felt like I was one of those farmers' daughters, being squired about by the 'Gallant Galaxy Ranger.'"  
  
Ariel couldn't help it. She chuckled, "Oh, Niko..."  
  
"I guess...I just never expected he'd ever feel the same way. After all, we've served together for two years almost." Niko sighed and turned serious. "Unfortunately, all hell broke loose before we could say anything...  
  
"I've seen him injured, sick, crazy... he's seen me in a few less-than flattering states. We joke, we talk, we sometimes go out for coffee after work."  
  
"Child, you're just going to have to corner him and not let him go until you get him to admit his feelings for you. But, first, you're going to have to tell him your feelings for him," Ariel advised. "That means, admitting them to yourself. From what you've told me, he's not known a lot of 'softer' emotions, my dear, so it's not going to be easy for him..."  
  
Niko's voice was distant. "He's just as frightened as I am, I suppose. I don't think he knows too much about love."  
  
"No, child, I don't suppose he has," Ariel's voice was comforting. She decided to turn the topic, "Now, my child, when are you going to come back to Xanadu to complete your training?"  
  
Niko looked at her in confusion, "My training?"  
  
"Yes, dear. From what you told me, your powers have increased, and you've developed thought-sensing now along with your increased gifts."  
  
"I hadn't even thought of that..." Niko was caught off-guard.  
  
"You need to learn how best to use and not be used by your new talents." Ariel was serious. "It's rare for any Circle member to spend long periods away from home, and even then, they come home frequently to continue working on their gifts.  
  
"You've also become quite dependent on your implant to control your gifts."  
  
Niko tried to protest, "Ariel, no..."  
  
"Yes, Child," Ariel's visage was grim.  
  
Niko sighed. she knew her mentor was looking out for her, but her duties as a Ranger could be quite demanding. Finally, she said, "I'll have to clear it with Commander Walsh, but I don't think he'll have any problems with it...Especially since I'm still considered to be on medical leave...  
  
"I'd still hate to leave the guys. I'd miss them."  
  
"I'm not saying you need to come right now, but don't put it off for too much longer, my dear," Ariel said, letting up a little on her.  
  
Niko nodded. "I'll file the request later today. It might be a while, but I'll get there. Don't worry."  
  
"Good. This is not something you can put off indefinitely, my dear. You need more training.  
  
"Now, I've spent enough time here. I've got a council session to attend."  
  
"Good-bye, Ariel. I'll see you as soon as I can."  
  
"Don't forget it, child," Ariel admonished before the projection shimmered again and vanished completely.  
  
Niko stood back up with a sigh and picked up where she had left off on polishing Mel. "She's right, Mel. I've almost been as bad as Goose about this. I guess I will have to corner him when he gets back from Tortuna and have a nice long talk with him."  
  
She wasn't looking at Mel's head, or else she would have seen him turn his head to look at Triton. The two cyberhorses had long since grown tired of their riders' strange behavior and had been waiting for a chance to take matters into their own hands. But, the two would talk later after Niko had finished polishing them and most definitely before they got back to BETA Mountain.  
  
While Brutus was known for not saying much; Voyager, on the other hand, was so scatter-brained, that she would tell everyone and every computer in BETA Mountain about what the two cyberhorses were planning. No, Voyager was definitely going to have to be left out of the loop on this. If the cyberhorses could smile, then they would have had very mischievous grins on their faces at that point.  
  
Eventually, Niko finished up with the horses and returned to her cabin. It was going to be late before the SS Cheyenne dropped out of hyperspace and docked at the BETA Space Station, and she would need to be fully awake to make certain that Triton and Mel were off-loaded onto the shuttle heading down to BETA Mountain.  
  
Several hours later, the SS Cheyenne dropped to sub-light speed for normal navigation inside the solar system. The battle-cruiser pulled into its docking berth in the space station at oh-zero-hundred hours local time, and by the time Niko was able to get the two cyberhorses tucked away in their transport shells and loaded on the shuttle heading down to BETA Mountain, it was another two hours. She was finally able to walk into her quarters just as the sun was beginning to peek up over the eastern horizon. Niko barely managed to get out of her uniform before crawling into bed and crashing into a deep sleep.  
  
Niko felt like she had barely been asleep when the computer chimed incessantly for her attention.  
  
"You have an incoming call and one new message in your in-box," the bland female voice said.  
  
Niko came awake slowly, not wanting to wake up. She pushed herself up in bed and shoved her hair out of her face with her right hand.  
  
"Computer, what time is it?" she asked groggily.  
  
"Time is oh-eight-thirty hours. You have one incoming call and one new message in your in-box."  
  
Niko sighed and said, "Put the call through out in the main room."  
  
"Acknowledged."  
  
She grabbed a robe from her closet on her way out to the main room of her apartment and slipped it on, wondering who was calling her already.  
  
"Good morning, Ranger Niko," said the person who appeared on the monitor. It was a woman in a starched nurse's uniform. Her brusque, business-like tone indicated that it was not a very good morning at all. Just the opposite in fact.  
  
"Can I help you?" Niko asked, a little puzzled. She hadn't contacted medical. At least not yet...  
  
"Commander Walsh requested you see the doctor on duty when you returned from Granna. I'm just calling to let you know that your appointment is scheduled for oh-nine-thirty hours this morning." the woman answered briskly.  
  
"Oh-nine-thirty hours? Why- that barely gives me enough time to get dressed- " Niko tried to protest.  
  
"I'm sorry, Ranger Niko, but that's the only opening the doctor had. We'll expect to see you here at oh-nine-thirty hours." the completely unsympathetic woman said and cut the connection.  
  
Niko gasped, "What- oh!"  
  
She just stared at the blank screen in surprise for a moment before collecting her thoughts. "Computer, who is the message from?"  
  
"Commander Walsh."  
  
"Play message," Niko instructed.  
  
A second later Commander Walsh's image appeared on the screen, "Niko, I know you got in late last night, but report to my office after you've been to medical." Then, the screen was blank.  
  
"Computer, is that all the messages?" Niko asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good," she said, before turning to go back to her bedroom. She went into her closet and laid a fresh uniform out on her bed before heading for the shower. She had a difficult time trying to wash out her long hair with one hand, and keep her cast on the other arm from getting wet. It took her longer than she wanted, and didn't leave her time to dry her long hair without being late to medical.  
  
She muttered a curse and struggled into her uniform. She slipped the sling on and moved her hair out of the way of the strap as she adjusted it. Next, she pulled her boots on using only her right hand and put her belt on. The last thing she did was to put her badge on over her belt buckle.  
  
"Computer, time," she called out as she quickly moved from her bedroom.  
  
"Time is oh-nine-ten hours."  
  
"Blast," she cursed and headed out the door, her damp hair flowing out behind her. She walked across the complex to where she could catch a shuttle tram over to the medical center.  
  
It was over three hours later that Niko left the medical center. The doctor had run a battery of tests on her, removed the heavy plaster cast on her arm and replaced it with a sturdy, lightweight brace. He was pleased with how the bones in her shoulder and arm were healing, along with her fractured ribs. But, on the other hand, he still wouldn't let her return to active duty and kept her on medical leave. His reasoning was that it was not because of the almost-healed broken bones, but because of how easily she still tired. She was still at risk for a pneumonia relapse while she was still so weak.  
  
Niko reluctantly had to agree with him, and so, feeling completely drained once again, she headed for Commander Walsh's office. She was grateful that the medical center was close to where the command staff offices were at. Upon reaching his office, she was ushered in without delay by his aide.  
  
Walsh stood up to greet Niko and waved her to sit in a chair by his desk. He explained why he wanted to see her, mission debriefing and the report from the medical center. He asked some tough questions about Scarecrow and Ariel that Niko had a difficult time answering.  
  
"I honestly don't really know, Sir." she answered to his question about if she thought that Scarecrow had truly been imprisoned by Ariel with no chance of escape. "I was so out of it when Ariel had her big showdown with him, that I have no idea what happened. I would hope that we have seen the last of him, but you never know. He always seems to come back when you least expect him to." Niko rubbed her left collarbone absently. Her injuries were proof to that.  
  
Walsh was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke again it was to say, "I was reading over the doctor's report, and he said that he still won't release you from medical leave and allow you to return to active duty. Do you think he was right?"  
  
Niko frowned. It left a bitter taste in her mouth to have to admit, "Yes, sir, unfortunately I have to agree with him. I would be lying not only to myself, but to the team as well if I were to go out on an assignment right now. I would be more of a liability than a help, since I still haven't gotten my strength back, and I have no stamina whatsoever right now."  
  
Walsh nodded, "Good. You recognize your weakness and realize what it means." He paused for a moment again before saying, "Q-Ball was asking about you this morning. I believe that he just received a shipment of archeological artifacts from an excavation on one of the outer worlds and wanted your help in cataloging them."  
  
"Commander?" Niko didn't follow.  
  
"It's not active duty..." Commander Walsh's voice trailed off. "In fact, it's rather tedious work-- slow and detail oriented..."  
  
"I'd be willing help him out on the side, Commander," Niko answered, grinning now. She had a passion for archeology and anything old. "Like you said, 'it's not active duty,' and so medical can't complain."  
  
Commander Walsh dismissed Niko and told her to see Q-Ball first thing in the morning.  
  
Niko thanked him again for giving her something, anything, to do and left to go back to her quarters. She made it as far as the couch before her energy gave way and she was forced to lie down. She stretched out on the long and comfortable couch and was asleep before she knew it.  
  
* * * *  
  
On Earth, the sun was beginning to set by the time Niko finally awoke from her exhausted slumber, her stomach grumbling loudly since she had not had a chance to eat earlier in the day. She looked in surprise at the clock on the far wall of the room as she sat up and pushed her hair back off her shoulders. Had she really slept for over five hours? She shook her head in amazement and got up slowly from the couch, and headed into the kitchen to fix herself something to eat.  
  
The next morning, she went and saw Q-Ball first thing and the two of them began the task of cataloguing the artifacts. Q-Ball was glad to see her but still would not let her overwork herself, no matter how busy he got. Every two hours he would make her take a break. He was so obvious in his attempts to keep her from overworking herself that Niko had to smile.  
  
  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	4. Chapter IV Shot in the Dark and You're ...

Chapter IV "The Atmosphere On the streets tonight  
  
Is the driving beat Of the world  
  
The word down here On the streets tonight  
  
Is the truest music You've heard"  
  
The Other Side of Life, The Moody Blues  
  
On the other side of the galaxy heading for Tortuna in Ranger-Two, Shane Gooseman used the time in transit from Granna to truly become one dangerous looking outlaw. He had not shaved since he had left Granna and had three days beard-growth on his face. His normally full blond hair was slicked back, giving his face a harsh look. His black "renegade" outfit, hanging up next to his bunk in the back of the ship was rumpled and worn looking, his black hat with its red trim around the crown was hanging on the peg with his black outfit.  
  
"Goose, we're approaching Tortuna." Alma's pink and blue oblong eyeball shape appeared on the screen by Goose's right arm.  
  
"Get ready to drop out of hyperspace while I go change, then get me an encrypted line to Commander Walsh." Goose got up from the seat and went to the back of the ship. The easy part was over-- getting to Tortuna. Now came the difficult part-- finding Daisy. He knew she was too smart to stay on Tortuna with the Queen hot on her tail.  
  
He changed into his renegade outfit and returned to the bridge as Alma dropped the ship from hyperspace some distance out from Tortuna.  
  
"All systems ready, Goose. Encrypted line to Commander Walsh now open."  
  
"Thanks, Alma," Goose answered, sitting down in his seat.  
  
Alma's shape disappeared from the monitor and was replaced by Commander Walsh's face.  
  
"Commander, I'm at Tortuna. Any word from Daisy O'Mega?"  
  
"None yet. I expect to hear from her tomorrow." Commander Walsh answered, looking closely at Goose's image. He could look downright dangerous when he chose, and this was one of those times.  
  
"I'm going down to the city see if I can get a fix on her whereabouts. I seriously doubt she's anywhere near here." Goose said, tipping his hat back off his brow.  
  
"Be careful, Gooseman, Tortuna is bound to be crawling with the Queen's agents," Commander Walsh cautioned.  
  
"Isn't it always?" Goose answered.  
  
"Gooseman," the commander said in closing, "Watch your back."  
  
"I will, Commander. Keep me informed if you hear from Daisy," Goose answered.  
  
Commander Walsh nodded and cut the transmission.  
  
Goose sat up in the seat and said, "Alma, power up the engines, and get me Geezie the Pedulant."  
  
"Right away, Goose," Alma answered, powering the drives back up.  
  
Geezie's face appeared on the monitor seconds later. "Galaxy Ranger Humming! What do you want?"  
  
Goose said, "I'm going to be landing shortly here out in the bad lands and need a lift into Tortuna City." Triton, his cyberhorse was just too noticeable to bring along this time. Goose finished to himself.  
  
"Not a good time for Hummings to be in Tortuna City. Especially not Galaxy Ranger Hummings," Geezie protested.  
  
"When is there a good time for 'Galaxy Ranger Hummings' to be in Tortuna City?" Shane remarked. "Geezie, I need a lift into the city, what can you do for me?"  
  
"Very well, Humming, you must have a longing for the Queen's Psychocrypt," Geezie said resignedly. "I will have my cousin, Deezie come get you, Galaxy Ranger."  
  
"I'll be landing at these coordinates-" Goose gave him the coordinates. "Have him meet me there."  
  
He paused a second and said, "Oh, and Geezie? Don't even think about pulling any tricks."  
  
Geezie was affronted, "I wouldn't think of it, Ranger Humming!"  
  
"Just making sure, Geezie," Goose said before he cut the transmission. He sat back in his seat and relaxed for a moment. The easy part was over. Now he had to find out if Daisy's information was true, and he had to track down the beautiful and dangerous outlaw gun-slinger.  
  
By the time Goose had landed Ranger Two out in the bad lands, Geezie's cousin, Deezie was waiting at the designated pick-up point. He almost bolted when he saw the black clad Goose come out of the ship. Goose approached the young Pendulant slowly, and asked, "Deezie?"  
  
The youngster nodded. He was in awe of the Humming. This was one of the Galaxy Rangers his cousin had talked about? He found his voice and asked, "You're a Galaxy Ranger?"  
  
Goose grinned and answered, "Yeah, Deezie, I'm a Galaxy Ranger. But, don't spread it around. I don't want anyone to know that a Ranger is here."  
  
Deezie's eyes went wide as Goose showed him his badge, hidden under a flap of cloth on the black renegade outfit he wore. This Humming was definitely a Galaxy Ranger.  
  
Goose rebuttoned the flap of cloth that hid his badge and said, "Come on Deezie. Let's get going before someone or something finds us."  
  
"R-right, Humming." Deezie stuttered. He knew what creatures crawled in the badlands and knew he didn't want to run into any of them. He opened the hatchway on the enclosed green wagon.  
  
Goose climbed in and then they were off, heading for Tortuna City.  
  
Deezie went back in the same way he'd come out-- through the Pendulant smugglers' tunnels, and he dropped Goose off below Geezie's shop.  
  
Geezie stood there waiting apprehensively for the Ranger. It was rarely anything 'light' that brought the Rangers to Tortuna. It was siesta-time in Tortuna City, a mid-afternoon period when everything shut down for a couple of hours. Geezie could leave the shop unattended for a short period of time and not be noticed.  
  
"Galaxy Ranger, what brings you to Tortuna?" Geezie asked. The Humming was almost more dangerous looking than any of the criminals who resided on Tortuna.  
  
"I'm looking for Daisy O'Mega," Goose said. "You haven't heard anything have you?"  
  
Geezie trumpeted nervously through his trunk. This was what had brought the Ranger to Tortuna. He should have known. "That's the Humming the Queen is very angry with. Queen's offered huge reward for Humming's capture, alive or dead. Preferably alive." Geezie answered.  
  
"Now why is the Queen so upset with Daisy of all people? Daisy never did business with the Queen before," Goose questioned.  
  
"I don't know. The Queen's said nothing about why. At least not that I've been able to find out," Geezie answered, wringing his hands.  
  
"What else do you know, Geezie?"  
  
"The Black Hole Gang is looking to collect the Queen's reward. They blasted out of here three days ago hot on Daisy's tail." Geezie shook his head. "I'm afraid that that Humming is in big trouble."  
  
Goose growled at the mention of the Black Hole Gang. They were the worst bunch of outlaws he had ever had the misfortune to cross paths with. "Daisy blasted out of here three days ago? Do you know where she was heading?"  
  
"No, Ranger Humming, I don't know. She stole a ship and blasted her way out of the spaceport. How did you know about Daisy O'Mega, Ranger Humming?"  
  
Goose gave a short explanation, "She contacted BETA Mountain, looking for help."  
  
Geezie looked a little puzzled, but didn't press.  
  
"Geezie, where does the Black Hole Gang hang out when they're on Tortuna these days?"  
  
"The Sunset Bar over in Sorry End," Geezie answered promptly.  
  
"Good, then that's where I'm headed," Goose stated, and headed for the steps leading up to Geezie's shop.  
  
"But, Ranger Humming! If the Black Hole Gang isn't here, what are you going to do?" Geezie questioned, hurrying to keep up with Goose.  
  
"Then I'll wait. They're bound to return here sooner or later, and if anyone would know where Daisy was headed, then they would." Goose answered, striding through the shop.  
  
Geezie trumpeted through his trunk again. The Ranger Humming must have a longing for the Queen's Psychochamber.  
  
Goose left Geezie's shop and walked down the nearly deserted street, his hat pulled low down on his brow, shading his eyes. He made one stop before going into Sorry End at a borderline rooming house, that was almost a brothel. He signed in under an alias and paid for the room up front in Crowns.  
  
The innkeeper handed him a key to the room and asked, trying to decipher the illegible scrawl in the ledger, "How long you gonna' by stayin' Mister-- ?"  
  
"Indefinitely. Depends on how long my business takes."  
  
"What'd you say your business was?" The innkeeper was getting down right nosy.  
  
"I didn't. Now, if you'll excuse, I'd like to go up to my room now," Goose said in a frigid voice, giving the alien behind the counter a hard stare.  
  
The innkeeper swallowed nervously, and said, "Sure, sure, whatever you say Mister!"  
  
Goose narrowed his eyes and growled under his breath before turning to go. The innkeeper wasn't worth his effort.  
  
He found his room and quickly checked for any electronic bugs. He found more than a few and decided to leave them in place because he wouldn't be staying there long. Not more than a day, either way.  
  
He removed his gun belt and hung it on a bedpost within easy reach should he have some uninvited visitors. He stretched out on the bed and tried to relax, but memories of the team's stint as "Renegade Rangers" and their recent run-in with the Scarecrow kept after him.  
  
Daisy putting herself in the line of MaCross' fire to keep him from being hit, the walkway being shot out literally right out from under their feet, Niko using her telekinetic abilities to keep them from smashing into the floor, and then his asking Daisy not to run when they were outside Ranger- One as she was about to thrust off and try and escape the Rangers. The scenes changed without warning and one second he would be in the middle of the Burning Nebula, the next he would be on Granna, facing down Scarecrow, or holding a severely injured Niko in his arms. More often than not Niko was the prominent figure in the warped scenes. That and his confused feelings for her.  
  
Just what was he thinking? Why had he kissed her back on Granna? Oh man, he thought, you are really in over your head here...  
  
Finally, after about an hour of tossing and turning and failing to get any real sleep, he gave up on trying to sleep at the moment.  
  
Goose got up and buckled his gun belt back on. His mood had not improved any for his abortive attempt to get some real sleep, and he put his hat back on before leaving the room. He settled it low on his brow, putting his eyes in shadow and shut the door behind him. He walked through the lobby of the hotel, avoiding the drunk who came stumbling in from the street. The street was starting to fill up again as the city began to stir from its "siesta time."  
  
He walked down the street, heading for Sorry End and the Sunset Bar. He would stake the place out until either the Black Hole Gang returned to Tortuna and he found out if they knew where she had gone, or he heard from Commander Walsh on where to meet Daisy. He hoped that she was all right, wherever she was....  
  
* * * *  
  
Back on board the Black Hole Gang's ship, Daisy O'Mega came to once more. Except that this time she was shivering with cold, yet burning with fever at the same time, and every muscle still ached abominably, everything was knotted and cramped.  
  
Wonderful, she thought, maybe I won't live to see the Queen's Psychocrypt after all. She didn't know whether to be happy or frightened that she was running a high temperature. Damn, she cursed weakly, MaCross must have hurt her worse than she thought if she was burning up with a fever now. She hoped that her beacon had made it to the shipping lanes, and that Commander Walsh had gotten her message. The last thing she felt before lapsing back into the blessed nothingness of unconsciousness, was the ship dropping out of hyperspace. That could only mean that they had made it back to Tortuna.... and then, Daisy was beyond caring once more.  
  
* * * *  
  
In Commander Walsh's office, things were not going so well. He had not heard from Daisy O'Mega, and Goose had failed to turn anything up yet, and now, he had a commercial freighter calling about an emergency beacon that was encrypted. All the captain of the freighter could get out of it was that it was to be delivered to Commander Walsh at BETA Mountain. Walsh ordered an interceptor to meet up with the freighter and bring the beacon back to Earth. The interceptor pilot should return to BETA by late morning on the following day with the beacon. He hoped that Goose would turn up something on Daisy O'Mega, but his practical nature told him that he more than likely would not have any luck.  
  
The day passed on, and Commander Walsh still received no word from Daisy O'Mega. When contacted by Goose, he was told that he had had no luck locating Daisy either. As far as he knew, she had made it off-planet, but beyond that, no one knew where she had gone.  
  
Finally, the encoded beacon message was delivered to Commander Walsh the following morning. He inserted the data chip into the computer and got the first SOS message. The next part of the message required a password and Daisy had programmed the beacon with the question, "What was the name of the ship I stole during the Quadrant Four Wargames?" Walsh typed in "SS Cheyenne."  
  
The computer acknowledged the password and said, "Password accepted. Playing message."  
  
"Commander Walsh, if you're hearing this message, then I've been captured, and more than likely it's the Black Hole Gang that caught me." Daisy's voice said, heavy with irony. "As much as I would hope to be rescued, Commander, I wouldn't expect you to be sending anyone after me. Not if the Queen decides to put me in her Psychocrypt..."  
  
The voice paused for a few seconds, as if shocked by that prospect, then continued on with a small laugh, "Huh, well, I guess it's no better than I deserve, but I plan on going down fighting.  
  
"Commander Walsh, the Queen is planning to invade one of the frontier worlds in Quadrant Three. She's going to raid the planet for humans to use as Slaverlords, and soon. She's building up her armada and is planning to attack the planet any day now.  
  
"I may be many things, Commander Walsh, but I'm not a fan of the Queen of the Crown. Stop her before she gets to that Quadrant, Commander, before she takes all those people to her Psychocrypt."  
  
There the message ended...  
  
* * * *  
  
The next day, Goose repeated his routine; he checked in at Geezie's shop and called Alma from there. She gave him the message that Commander Walsh had sent to the ship that told him Daisy had been captured. More than likely it had been by the Black Hole Gang, and that his mission was now to: One, see if he could rescue her before being turned over to the Queen. Two, to find out what the Queen was up to. Was she actually planning an invasion as Daisy had said, and if so, which planet?  
  
With that information, he headed over to Sorry End. On his way back there, he sensed that he had picked up a tail as he walked down the street. He had probably picked it up as soon as he had left Geezie's shop. He paused to look in a shop window and spotted who was most likely his tail. He moved on down the street, deciding to ignore him for now.  
  
When Shane looked behind him again, the alien had vanished. Maybe he'd given the creep the shake. He decided to play it careful, and do some "shopping" before he returned to his room at the boarding house.  
  
Jikke ducked into an alleyway and activated his comlink. "MaCross, we got trouble."  
  
"What kind of trouble?" MaCross answered.  
  
"Ranger trouble," the alien answered. "It's that blonde guy."  
  
MaCross muttered a curse in his native tongue. "Where's he at?"  
  
"He's in the bazaar, right now."  
  
"See if he goes into a building. When he does, radio us. We'll head that direction and catch up to you."  
  
Feeling that he had shucked his shadow, Goose returned to the Sunset Bar to see if the Black Hole Gang had returned to their favorite watering hole.[pic] Goose ordered a drink and retreated to a dark corner where he could sit and watch the crowd in the bar. So far, there had been no sign of the Black Hole Gang, and he was beginning to wonder if maybe Geezie's information was wrong. This was a lousy bar. The beer was what Doc would call "sex in a canoe." At least there wasn't much of a chance of his reflexes being dulled by it. He noticed that there weren't many customers around. Shane tried to remain inconspicuous. The less attention you drew to yourself on Tortuna, the better.  
  
The bartender was cleaning glasses when the doors swung open, and a large crowd wandered in.  
  
"Come on, boys," a gruff voice called above the chatter. "Wet yer whistles and spend your pay. Celebrate while you have the chance."  
  
Shane perked up. Just the slimebag he was looking for. He scanned the crowd for the source. He kept his hat tipped low on his forehead, keeping his face shadowed.  
  
The owner of the voice was MaCross, leader of the Black Hole Gang. He got his drink and headed straight for Shane.  
  
"Well, well, look what the desert blew in," MaCross commented snidely, sitting across from Shane at the table.  
  
Shane growled low in his throat, refusing to be baited by that piece of slime.  
  
"Funny, I didn't think this place could get much worse," Shane returned, one hand on his blaster, the other wrapped tightly around the beer mug.  
  
"Come here looking for Daisy, heh? Too late, Ranger Boy. I took care of her real good."  
  
Shane stiffened in the seat, his fingers disabling the safeties on the blaster.  
  
"Whatsamatta, Ranger boy. You sweet on her still? Well, too bad."  
  
Shane wanted to just blast him now, but it wasn't the best time or place, and he needed information.  
  
MaCross was still trying to provoke him. "Daisy took a real shine to you. Don't know what she saw in a freak like yourself..."  
  
"Shut up, MaCross," Shane barked, at the end of his already-short fuse. He shoved the table out of the way, and stood up, ready to take out MaCross.  
  
The rest of the patrons stood up. There were more of them than Shane had counted on. Shane came to the sudden realization that the odds were a little bit nastier than he had first thought. He smiled, this was going to be interesting either way...  
  
The bartender had already cleared out of the bar, along with the rest of the "respectable" patrons. He knew when more trouble than he wanted anything to do with was coming down.  
  
One of the gang members made the mistake of trying to jump Shane from behind. Shane caught the movement from the corner of his eye and whirled about with a roundhouse punch. He grinned, this was going to be one heck of a brawl.  
  
The gang member hit the wall with a thud, then slid to the floor out cold. The other members clumped together and started closing in. The fight was on.  
  
Several of the gang members were behind his back, while the majority were to his front and sides. One in front charged him, knife drawn.  
  
He dodged easily, saying, "Here, let me help you!" He grabbed the man's knife arm and used his momentum to throw him into the gang members just behind him. He kept the knife and used it to hold the gang members off for a few moments.  
  
A few others soon took their places, surrounding him in a trap of fists, legs, and weapons of assorted types. One android tried to swing a punch. Shane ducked, and the android took out two of Shane's attackers.  
  
Shane grinned and lashed out with a hook kick of his own, clearing a way to the bar. He reached behind it and grabbed a bottle made of thick, dark glass.  
  
MaCross could be heard yelling above the din, "Don't forget! The Queen is offering a huge reward for live Galaxy Rangers!"  
  
I'll fry that creep, Goose thought as he used the bottle to take out two more members of the Black Hole Gang, and severely cut a third. It was getting a little too congested in here, he thought.  
  
One of them made a grab for his chest. Shane jerked away and heard the tearing of fabric. No big deal. No injuries. The gang looked like it was starting to thin a little. He continued to grab bottles from behind the bar, and use them as missiles-- managing to take out two more gang members.  
  
Another gang member got on the bar and managed to deliver a kick to Shane's back, sending him stumbling.  
  
There were about fifteen people left in the bar, all of them Black Hole Gang members, and/or people just looking for a good brawl.  
  
Man, this is a time when I could really use Triton, he thought, regaining his balance.  
  
The others were starting to overwhelm him and the hits were starting to accumulate. He reached down for his chest...  
  
OH, SHIT!  
  
His badge was gone. That must have been... He never got the chance to finish the thought as he was hit in the back by a heavy stunbeam.  
  
He went down heavily.  
  
MaCross stood with an evil grin and a blaster in one hand. He carelessly blew on the barrel of the smoking gun.  
  
"Stun that changeling again!" yelled MaCross. "Gotta make sure he doesn't cause trouble."  
  
It was the last thing Goose heard before being hit by a second stun beam and blacking out.  
  
* * * *  
  
He could handle himself. After all, he was a Ranger, and he'd handled himself in dangerous situations before.  
  
Niko pulled the covers tighter around her. She had to stop thinking about him. He would be all right. It felt drafty in her apartment, but there were no windows or doors open, and the night air was still balmy and warm. She burrowed deeper into the covers and tried to get warm.  
  
She kept playing their parting on Granna over and over again.... That and the last time they'd run across Daisy O'Mega. Daisy had taken a real interest in Shane and, well, Daisy was an attractive woman, and Shane could be something of a rake...  
  
Stop this! She told herself, you're going to make yourself crazy if you keep this up, Niko!  
  
Why the hell was she so worked up over this? Why couldn't she shake the feeling that something very wrong was happening?  
  
But, if Shane had been interested in Daisy, why did he risk the entire mission to save you? Anyone of them were expendable on a mission like that-- part of the duty of being a Ranger, A little voice prompted somewhere inside her.  
  
She sat up in bed and pushed her hair out of her face. She had to stop thinking like this.  
  
And the kiss on Granna... That same little voice prompted once again.  
  
Niko, you're reading too much into friendly gestures. You confused the poor man, she told that little voice.  
  
She wasn't going to get any sleep in her current state of mind. She decided to meditate and hope that helped.  
  
She took a piece of quartz from her nightstand and held it in her hands. Then she sat on the floor and tried to clear her mind. Just focus on emptiness. Focus on peace...calm... By focusing on those things, she was able to begin to levitate.  
  
Suddenly, across her mind, she saw a flash of red light, smelled blood, and tasted fear and panic... heard something cry out.  
  
She lost her focus, and crashed heavily back against the bed.  
  
Something was wrong! Very wrong!  
  
But, what? She had to find out.  
  
She quickly controlled her breathing, and tried to concentrate again... What was that? She caught her breath and put a hand over her wildly beating heart.  
  
By concentrating on slowing her pounding heart, she put herself back into the trance.  
  
Trying to reach out only brought her to a red light... to a pain that had faded from a scream to weeping...  
  
She was thrown out of the trance once more, and to her surprise, found tears on her own cheeks. Was she the one who had screamed?  
  
A familiar voice calling out her name... She thought for a brief moment. No, Niko, you're paranoid, she told herself.  
  
Then, she had a recollection of a green tunic covered torso with an angry red centipede tattooed on one shoulder. She gasped, MaCross of the Black Hole Gang!  
  
But, the voice.... oh Gods, she hoped it was only a dream; though she had a sinking feeling it wasn't.  
  
Her comm unit buzzed for her attention. "You have an incoming call," the bland female voice said.  
  
She wanted to tell the computer to tell whoever was calling that she wasn't available and to take a message, but that little voice deep inside her prompted her to take the call. She put on a robe and walked over to the terminal, and punched in her code to accept the call. She was surprised by who her caller was.  
  
It was Geezie the Pedulant!  
  
The Pedulant sighed in relief. "Finally, I get a Humming that can help!"  
  
"Geezie, what is it? What's wrong?"  
  
"It's that Blond Ranger Humming who was supposed to find Daisy O'Mega. He was supposed to come back to my shop twelve hours ago. Not like Humming to be late."  
  
She had a sinking feeling of dread, "Geezie, what do you mean he didn't show up?"  
  
"He's vanished. My informant said something about the Black Hole Gang getting a Ranger Humming, but he can't confirm it."  
  
"Oh no..." She whispered. "Geezie, why did you call me? Why not Commander Walsh?"  
  
Geezie trumpeted, "Calling something like BETA is too traceable. This is easier to scramble. No one eavesdrops on private mail unless they have a reason."  
  
"Hold on just a second here while I get the commander on the line, Geezie."  
  
She pressed a key on the terminal and said, "Computer, get me Commander Walsh on the line right away. Tell him it's urgent."  
  
The screen split, with Geezie on the left, and Commander Walsh on the right. It was obvious he had been roused from a deep sleep.  
  
"Geezie, tell Commander Walsh what's happened," she said, pushing her hair out of her face once more.  
  
Geezie cleared his throat and said, "I have information that your Ranger was possibly captured by the Black Hole Gang."  
  
"What?!" Walsh's eyebrows shot up. "How long ago was this?"  
  
"My informant didn't say, but he did say that a Humming had been captured by the Black Hole Gang; and MaCross lit out of the main dome a couple of hours ago..."  
  
Walsh turned ashen, "Then, he's no doubt headed for the Queen." He muttered a curse under his breath.  
  
"Commander! We've got to go after him, sir!" Niko put in.  
  
Walsh nodded, "I'm calling in Captain Foxx and Ranger Hartford from Tarkon. Meet me in my office in two hours."  
  
"Yes, sir!" She sounded relieved. He hadn't automatically said no. Maybe he would let her go on the rescue mission, despite her still being on medical leave.  
  
"Geezie, thank you for telling us. Ranger Gooseman is important to all of us," Commander Walsh said directly to the alien.  
  
Geezie looked around. "Can't talk for long. The spy droid will be passing my shop at any second. Geezie out."  
  
The Pendulant cut the connection, and Niko turned to face her commander.  
  
"Commander, Goose is really in trouble. I know it. I had a vision..."  
  
Walsh's eyebrows shot up again. She was rarely wrong when it came to "seeing things," even if so little was known about her gifts.  
  
He took in for the first time her ragged appearance. His gruff voice softened a little as he said, "You can handle it, Niko. Remember, you're a Galaxy Ranger."  
  
She nodded, "Yes, sir."  
  
"Remember, be in my office in two hours," the gruffness was back in his voice. "Walsh out."  
  
The terminal flickered off, and she went to her closet, pulling out her white and blue jumpsuit uniform. She got her badge out from a drawer in her nightstand. She had a bad feeling about the whole thing. A premonition that if things didn't go well, she could wind up in deep trouble like Shane, or worse...  
  
She sat down heavily on her bed and rubbed absently at her just barely healed collarbone.  
  
* * * *  
  
Walsh looked over the transmission from Geezie one more time. He looked up from the desk. "Nagata, your opinion," Walsh's voice sounded leaden, dead.  
  
"I am afraid that we must consider Ranger Gooseman and Daisy O'Mega to be prisoners of the Queen."  
  
"What about a rescue mission?" Walsh asked.  
  
"Unlikely to be successful considering the current state of Crown and League defenses."  
  
That wasn't what Walsh wanted to hear.  
  
The door slid open, and Ranger Niko was all but running in.  
  
"But if we don't even try to rescue them....." Walsh's voice trailed off.  
  
"Can we take that chance?" Nagata answered.  
  
"Sir, we can't leave them in the hands of the Queen!" Niko protested.  
  
Walsh was tempted to ask Niko how she knew what had happened, but realized that when it came to the psychic, especially where Goose was concerned, he was better off not asking.  
  
The com unit on his desk beeped for his attention. A tech's voice said, "Commander Walsh, you wanted to be informed when Ranger Hartford and Captain Foxx landed? They are docking now."  
  
Walsh fixed Niko with a stern glare, "We'll discuss this when Zach and Doc get here."  
  
Niko took a deep breath and wrung her hands, checking the door.  
  
Walsh studied her very carefully for a moment. She was visibly upset, and that was completely out of character for her. He frowned and tried not to notice it.  
  
A few minutes later, Zach and Doc came in. They saluted Commander Walsh, and Zach asked, "What's the situation, sir?"  
  
Walsh looked up. "I have bad news. It would appear that Ranger Gooseman has been captured."  
  
"Goose?!" Doc was stunned. "What happened?"  
  
Niko blurted out in a rush, "The Black Hole Gang! They shot him in the back!"  
  
Zachary turned around, and walked over to Niko. "Did you see this, Niko?"  
  
She nodded, her eyes full of pain, "Yes... The Black Hole Gang... I could sense MaCross."  
  
Zach said, "We'll leave immediately sir."  
  
"Hold on, Captain," said Walsh. "Commander Nagata and I decided that a rescue mission would not be in the best interest..."  
  
"But, Commander!" Zach protested, not believing what he was hearing.  
  
"What?" was all Doc could say.  
  
Zach was aghast at the very thought.  
  
"Commander," Doc protested. "We have to do something."  
  
"Commander, instead of mounting a full-scale rescue mission, let Doc, Niko and I go in and try and get Goose out." Zach tried to reason. "If Goose became a Slaverlord..."  
  
"No can do, Captain," said Walsh. "Nagata just informed me that there is build-up of Crown ships in several sectors near the Border in Quadrant Three. We'll need the Rangers to stay out in those regions in case of an attack."  
  
Walsh looked up. It was clear that what he was saying was just as draining to him. "If things go as badly as I'm suspecting, then Shane Gooseman won't be the last casualty of war."  
  
"Commander! Think of all the knowledge the Queen could use against us if she makes Goose a Slaverlord..." Doc put in.  
  
"If she has made a Slaverlord out of him, then it's too late. We need to prepare ourselves."  
  
Niko tried to find something to say that wouldn't reveal just how emotionally involved she was in the situation. But what to say? It seemed already decided. She could still feel Goose's agony...  
  
Zachary seemed ready to spit nails for a moment, then stopped, and shook his head in defeat. "All right. Where're our assignments?"  
  
Walsh deliberately split the team members up. They were too well known for plotting and going off on their own when together. He couldn't risk that right now. He dismissed them, and the Rangers filed out of the room reluctantly.  
  
They were to head to the Recharge Chamber, then off to separate ships.  
  
Doc looked at Zach, "Now what?"  
  
"We'll talk about it. But not here." Zach said.  
  
Zachary was looking past Doc, off to Niko. He was chilled to see the look on her face. It was one he recognized too well.  
  
They approached Niko and Zach asked, "Niko, can we use your quarters to talk?"  
  
Niko nodded and gestured to the men to follow her.  
  
"We have five hours before we're to report to Recharge," said Zachary as they walked along the corridors to her quarters.  
  
"Enough time to put together a conspiracy," Doc commented, an uneasy edge creeping into the usual sarcasm.  
  
Zach gave Doc an all-too-innocent look and said, "Who said anything about conspiracy, Doc?"  
  
Doc took the hint from Zach and said, "Oh, right! We'll just be... getting a little drunk."  
  
Niko seemed not to notice the exchange between the two, as she led the way to her quarters. Nothing more was said until they had reached Niko's quarters and were behind closed doors.  
  
The first thing Zach did was to lay a comforting hand on Niko's shoulder and say, "Don't worry Niko, we'll get Goose back."  
  
Doc turned around and punched a code into the keypad next to the door. "Just a little added precaution." He turned around and frowned. "Niko, are you okay? I mean, we're all shaken up about Goose, but..."  
  
"No," Niko admitted. "I... saw what happened. It was awful." she blinked owlishly, and shook her head, as if fighting a hangover.  
  
"What did the Black Hole Gang have to do with the Queen?" Zachary asked. "I didn't think the Queen would hire them."  
  
"MaCross and Daisy have a history, Zach, if you'll remember," Doc pointed out.  
  
Niko shuddered. She reluctantly thought back over her dream and said, "He wasn't really working for the Queen. He wanted the bounty she was offering on Daisy."  
  
Zach nodded. That made more sense.  
  
"And the Queen has huge bounties on us. MaCross would be a rich man," Doc pointed out.  
  
Zachary paced the room. "Well, I'm sure that she wouldn't be keeping the bodies in one of the outer storage corridors."  
  
Doc nodded in agreement, "A Galaxy Ranger? Oh no, she'd want to keep that 'crypt close to her."  
  
"Which means that we'd almost have to be captives ourselves before we can even take a look at it," muttered Niko.  
  
Zach turned to her and said sternly, "Absolutely not, Niko! You are not going to let the Queen capture you!"  
  
She looked up. "If I can hide a shuttlecraft nearby, I could maybe get out."  
  
"No, Niko! You're no match for the Queen. Especially when you're not back up to full strength yet." Zach was not yielding on this point.  
  
"I don't want you winding up as Slaverlords if this fails," Niko insisted. "It's bad enough that I'm risking this. The two of you don't need to be endangered."  
  
"I've got an idea about getting into the Psychocrypt, and we stay together on this. There's no going off on your own," Zach said, giving Niko a stern look.  
  
"So what's the plan, oh Captain?" Doc quipped, trying to find something, anything to laugh at.  
  
Zach straightened. "Niko's plan has a good idea in it."  
  
Doc was taken aback. "Captain? Getting captured? Zach, are you sure you're running on all gears?"  
  
"No, but sneaking in to the asteroid belt where the Queen's Psychochamber is at..."  
  
"Okay," said Doc. "So are you thinking of deliberately walking into a trap?"  
  
"No, let me explain..." Zach answered.  
  
* * * *  
  
Doc looked up and down the corridor. "Okay. You guys watch out for any security."  
  
Zach and Niko took positions and watched for any guards to come by while Doc tapped his badge.  
  
"Okay, Pathfinder, front and center," Doc said pulling out his CDU and opening it up. The holographic diamond flashed before him.  
  
The tweaker program zipped out and hung in the air and asked, "What's up Doc?" Doc grinned. He'd been watching way too many old cartoons if he'd programmed that line into the tweaker.  
  
"Pathfinder, old buddy, can you do me a favor?"  
  
"Sure, Doc. What do you need?"  
  
"I need this lock picked."  
  
Pathfinder bobbed in the air for a moment. "Right on, Doc." Then off the tweaker program went, disappearing into the computer lock's circuits. It sped into the circuitry.  
  
Zachary knit his brows. "You mean your tweakers can be used against BETA's codes?"  
  
Doc smiled, "They answer to me, and me only. Safety measure in case of something like this. I can also hack through any code BETA throws at me," He continued, watching his CDU closely.  
  
Zachary knit his brows. "Remind me never to completely peg you down."  
  
Niko hissed, "Quiet, guys! I think I hear someone coming!"  
  
Doc grinned as the circuit tripped, and the tweaker flowed back into the CDU.  
  
They all straightened as a technician walked by.  
  
The door slid open and the three Rangers quickly moved inside as soon as the tech was gone.  
  
Doc locked the door behind them and the team members moved forward into the charging chamber.  
  
"Come on," said Doc, walking to the recharge controls. "Pathfinder can only keep us hidden from the internal sensors for five minutes. From there, we have three more minutes to get to the shuttlebay."  
  
Zachary seemed a bit worried, "I don't want to know how you came up with such a precise number."  
  
"It never hurts to be prepared, Captain," Doc answered.  
  
Niko was already heading for the lift leading to the recharge chamber. Doc programmed in the command. Zach followed Niko, still somewhat amazed by Doc's information.  
  
"Okay. I put it on a short time delay. Let's go." He joined his teammates on the lift, and they quickly rode to the top of the charging platform.  
  
As they walked out to their normal spots on the recharging platform, Zach asked, "How long before the charging sequence kicks in, Doc?"  
  
"About thirty seconds. After Recharge, we have two minutes to get out of this chamber."  
  
The sequence began and was over before the Rangers knew it. Doc was urging them on as soon as it ended, "Come on, we've got to get to the shuttlebay before the sensors pick us up."  
  
Zach nodded, and quickly moved towards the lift, Niko followed a second behind, slightly befuddled. Something had happened during her recharge...  
  
Zachary and Niko followed Doc, somewhat surprised by Doc's practiced handling of the situation. If Zach didn't know better, he'd swear that Doc had a lot of this planned months, maybe even a year in advance.  
  
Niko couldn't place her finger on it, but she was feeling uneasy. Not because of what they were doing, but because of something out there, almost like thought-whispers.  
  
The three Rangers made a mad dash for the launch bay, looking calm and collected when they passed anyone in the halls, but still rushing a little even then.  
  
Zach noticed Niko's faraway expression and asked, "Niko, what's wrong?"  
  
She shook her head, "Not now... let's wait until we're on the ship."  
  
Doc stopped at a control panel and punched in a few commands when no technicians were looking. "We're in luck, Ranger-One's on the launchpad. Now, to key in a few commands...and leave a little something behind so that we aren't followed..."  
  
Zach looked at Doc suspiciously, "How much of this have you had planned, Doc?"  
  
Doc didn't look up. "Enough. Now, let's get out of here."  
  
"Right. Let's go. We've got to rescue Goose," Niko said firmly.  
  
"GeeVee, what's our status?" Zach asked as they entered the ship.  
  
"All systems on-line and ready to go, Captain Foxx," GeeVee replied. "I've been waiting for you to arrive. Preparing to lift off, sir," the AI cheerfully answered back.  
  
Everyone took their seats, and Zach turned to Doc and asked, "Doc, I don't suppose you took care of the tower did you?"  
  
The shuttlebay doors were opening, and the Rangers strapped in. As soon as they did, the alarm klaxons went off.  
  
"Actually, Commander Walsh took care of the tower for us," Doc said with a wide grin. "You're just taking off early to go report to your new assignment. Don't worry, those klaxons aren't for us. I also rigged the doors to jam shut once we leave in case anyone else got ideas."  
  
Niko just shook her head, "I'm glad you're on our side, Doc."  
  
"After we leave, the launch controls will be paralyzed for ten minutes. Enough time for us to be in hyperspace."  
  
"What are our coordinates, Niko?" Zach asked.  
  
"Tortuna," Niko answered with a grimace of distaste, "Sorry End."  
  
"Then, Tortuna, it is," Doc said, and then, "GeeVee, plot the coordinates and get us into hyperspace."  
  
The ship leaped almost instantly into hyperspace, heading for the outlaw planet.  
  
They were three minutes into hyperspace when the controls unfroze at BETA Mountain, and all the alarms and computers went nuts.  
  
* * * *  
  
Commander Walsh came charging out of his office, "Just what in the Sam Hill is going on out here?"  
  
His aide leaped to his feet and said, "I don't know, Commander. All the computers are registering every kind of emergency from a full scale invasion, to a total computer meltdown. They've gone completely haywire, Sir."  
  
"Where are Q-Ball and Ranger Hartford?" Walsh asked.  
  
"Q-Ball is on his way, Sir, and Ranger Hartford isn't answering his comlink."  
  
"Have you tried the rec-room or his quarters?"  
  
"I have someone on the way there now, Sir."  
  
"Have them also try either Captain Foxx's or Ranger Niko's quarters. The three of them are probably together right now."  
  
"Yes, sir," the aide nodded, going over to his desk to relay the message.  
  
A moment later, Q-Ball was on the link, asking Commander Walsh to come to the Recharge Center, that he had discovered a problem in the computers there as well.  
  
Walsh came storming into the Recharge Control Room a few minutes later, his aide following closely on his heels.  
  
"What in the Sam Hill happened?" Walsh yelled to be heard over the blaring klaxons.  
  
Nagata and Q-Ball were hunched over the controls, still trying to break the nasty encryption freezing the controls.  
  
"We're still trying to figure out what happened, we need to see the computer grid. There's a very nasty virus freezing up our systems," Q-Ball said, straightening up from the controls.  
  
"Damage?"  
  
"Doesn't appear to be any," Q-Ball answered.  
  
"I fear that this is probably the work of Ranger Hartford," Nagata droned.  
  
"If that's the case, maybe our job will be easier, we know his tweakers," Q- Ball mused.  
  
"Perhaps not," grumbled Walsh. "He designed those Tweakers himself. They might have a few tricks we don't know about."  
  
"Well, he is the best computer hacker at BETA, sir," Q-Ball said.  
  
"Has anyone found where Ranger Hartford is at yet?" Walsh asked, looking to his aide.  
  
"No," said the obviously frazzled aide. "We can't find any of them."  
  
Walsh didn't need to be told who his aide was talking about. It seemed that the Series-5 team had gone AWOL. He grumbled something under his breath, and turned to Q-Ball. "Q-Ball, can you at least do something about turning those blasted alarms off?!"  
  
"Let me try... this," Q-Ball said, and crawled under the console. He came back out with a fistful of wires, and, there was silence as the loud alarms shut off.  
  
"Crude, but effective," Q-Ball grinned.  
  
Walsh gave him a long-suffering look before turning back to his aide, "Get the launch tower on the line, and find out when the last ship out left, and who it was."  
  
"Joseph," Nagata said. "The virus has stopped interfering with our systems."  
  
"Good, now can you tell me just what the hell it was, and how it got there?"  
  
Nagata's lights inside the globe flashed browns and reds. Not a good sign. "We still don't know for certain, but the logs were erased for the Recharge Chamber."  
  
"How far back were they erased?"  
  
"For the past month, Commander," Q-Ball answered.  
  
"Hartford," Walsh said to himself.  
  
The aide got an answer from the launch tower and shut down his comlink before turning to Walsh. "The last ship to leave was Ranger-One, Sir."  
  
"Who was on it, and what was the filed destination?" Walsh turned his attention to his aide.  
  
"The flight plan was registered by Captain Foxx, sir. There was no crew manifest listed. It gives your authorization code. Says something about leaving for an assignment on the Border in Quadrant Three."  
  
"I think we can figure out who was on it," Walsh said, but to be certain he asked, "Were there any other ships to launch?"  
  
"None, sir, at least not that we can tell right now. The computer log is a mess at the moment, due to that virus," the aide answered.  
  
"I should have realized that they'd do this, especially after the last time one of them ran afoul of the Queen, and ended up in her Psychocrypt."  
  
Walsh paused for a long moment before continuing, "I'll give them 24 hours to turn themselves in... Or to rescue O'Mega and Gooseman."  
  
And they'll need every minute of it... he said silently to himself.  
  
The expression on Q-Ball's face seemed to echo Walsh's thoughts.  
  
A moment later, Q-ball asked, "Do you think that that will be enough time, Commander?"  
  
"It had better be, or I will go after them myself and haul them in to face charges." Walsh answered, sounding overly forceful.  
  
Q-Ball just looked at him sideways, but kept his comments to himself.  
  
Nagata was the one who asked, "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Joseph?"  
  
"No, but I'll think of something to say when Wheiner shows up demanding an answer," Walsh admitted. "We have to give them time, Nagata. If they can pull this off, and find out what planet the Queen of the Crown plans to attack, then I'll let them get away with this stunt and see that they get some suitable reward and recognition for their actions..."  
  
  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	5. Chapter V Murder by Numbers

Chapter V  
  
"There really isn't any need for bloodshed,  
  
You just do it with a little more finesse.  
  
If you can slip a tablet into someone's coffee,  
  
Then it avoids an awful lot of mess."  
  
Murder By Numbers, The Police MaCross had two bundles in the back of his landcruiser. Both were bound, gagged, and drugged. Of course, it took bloody half his stash of stardust narcotic to knock the damned changeling out. The landcruiser sped out into the outskirts of the dome, out into the smallest, but most impressive of the domes.  
  
He stopped at the gates of the Queen's complex and said, "Tell the Queen that MaCross is here, and I've got what she's been looking for."  
  
The spy droids flocked to him; they would know soon enough.  
  
"And a bonus for her as well." He jerked his head towards the back of the landcruiser.  
  
The purple android guard looked over to the other guard before tapping a code on the gate. It opened slowly, but they would not allow him in. A seven foot tall nightmare in immaculate white gauze robes glided towards him. A faceless hood gaped at MaCross, and a bright blood red crystal was tied around its neck. Looking inside the crystal, MaCross could see three or four Gherkin faces. The Slaverlord floated through the gate and up to the landspeeder. The main purpose of a Slaverlord besides acting as the Queen's eyes and ears was to create an atmosphere of fear. They were wraith- like creatures, and almost always accompanied by a Crown Guard or two.  
  
The Queen's face appeared in the cowl of the Slaverlord, smoky and distorted, like a reflection in a window. "MaCross, what have you brought me?"  
  
"Just what you've been looking for, Your Majesty." MaCross leaned back to put a hand on the tarp.  
  
"And, just what is it I've been looking for, MaCross?" the Queen asked through the Slaverlord.  
  
MaCross flipped back the cloth and revealed his cargo. "Daisy O'Mega and a Galaxy Ranger for you."  
  
"Very good, MaCross, you may come in and we will discuss your reward," the Slaverlord purred.  
  
The sooner he could get paid and leave the better.  
  
The Slaverlord moved out of the way, and the guards opened the gate the rest of the way, allowing the vehicle to move forward. Behind him, the gate closed with a heavy thud. MaCross was glad that it would open again for him, at least.  
  
The Slaverlord and its attendant guards led MaCross to a large shuttlebay where he settled his landcruiser on the pavement.  
  
A few moments later, the Queen herself walked forward, her red cape billowing out behind her, with two more Slaverlords flanking her. She was taller than MaCross, with purple skin, and red eyes that seemed to burn into him even from across the parking bay.  
  
MaCross swallowed nervously and broke eye-contact first. Getting out of the land speeder, he went for his "cargo," and was stopped by a rifle- brandishing guard. MaCross growled low in his throat, but stayed where he was. He didn't want to end up in the Psychocrypt himself.  
  
"Not so quickly, MaCross. I wish to see you... and them... personally."  
  
MaCross swallowed, but said nothing.  
  
"I want to inspect my, how shall I put it, merchandise, before I purchase it."  
  
Usually, an audience with royalty was a great honor, but when that royalty was the Queen of the Crown, MaCross was more than a little intimidated. It took Patch and the boys a lot of money to bail him out after he lost that shoot-out. Not to mention that just being in her presence was enough to make most people faint-hearted with fear, himself included.  
  
Won't you come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly... Why did that old poem come into his head?  
  
One of the android guards stepped forward and ran a scanner of some sort over the two prone figures in the bed of the 'cruiser.  
  
She walked forward, and smiled. "Unless you have failed me in this, MaCross, and continue to pay your fees as a bounty hunter, you have nothing to fear from me."  
  
Yeah, right, thought MaCross. Common knowledge was that this woman was everything to be feared. Death had smiled at him twice, what next?  
  
She walked past MaCross and up to the land cruiser. Pulling back the heavy black blanket with a gesture of her long-fingered hand, she looked the two figures over.  
  
The guard finished its scan and handed the device to the Queen to read the results. She looked up at her guard, who showed her the scanner results. The genetic ids matched, but the two were heavily drugged and Daisy was in a serious state. She growled, "It would appear that you forgot my orders. I wanted Daisy O'Mega undamaged."  
  
"She'll live," MaCross said tersely, regretting it the instant it came out of his mouth.  
  
"What?!" she roared  
  
MaCross began to stammer out an answer, an excuse, "Y-your Majesty! She asked for it! She destroyed five of my best fighters, and caused extensive damage to my ship."  
  
"You bungler! You're lucky you're not impressed into service as a Slaverlord!"  
  
MaCross hastily stepped backwards, preparing to flee. His back was met with the business end of several guard-issue rifles.  
  
"What happened to your fighters is no concern of mine."  
  
"But, Your Majesty! I also brought you the Galaxy Ranger! He's not badly damaged. Just a little bruised..."  
  
Her expression softened, but her voice still held its razor edge. "Ah, yes. Ranger Gooseman. A Supertrooper... I am pleased with this.  
  
"You may yet live to serve me, MaCross," she continued. "His friends will not be able to resist following... MaCross you have done well in this."  
  
"Yes, Your Majesty, they stick together and always come running when one of them is in trouble. You could use his knowledge of them to trap the other Rangers when they come after him," MaCross hastened to suggest. Anything that would keep him alive and out of the Psychocrypt.  
  
The Queen nodded, "Indeed."  
  
She motioned to her guards to take Daisy and Goose away. "Take the woman to the medical facility, and make sure you lock that Galaxy Ranger up good and tight. I can't have him escaping to warn his friends." She spun around and reached into her cape, pulling out a sizable bag. She tossed it at MaCross who caught it. "That is your payment. Take it. My guards will escort you from the palace. Thank you for your service, MaCross. May you continue to be... productive."  
  
MaCross couldn't quite suppress the shiver he felt at her words. He almost wished those suckers at BETA Mountain on Earth good luck in their battle to get rid of her. He wasn't about to squander his opportunity to leave, however. He jumped in the 'cruiser, and accepted the escort out of the palace, speeding back to the spaceport as fast as the land speeder could safely travel. He decided to get off Tortuna for a little while.  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	6. Chapter VI Best Laid Plans

Chapter VI "I know you're out there somewhere  
  
Somewhere somewhere  
  
I know you're out there somewhere  
  
Somewhere you can hear my voice  
  
I know I'll find you somehow  
  
Somehow somehow  
  
I know I'll find you somehow  
  
And somehow I'll return again to you."  
  
I know You're Out there Somewhere, The Moody Blues  
  
As soon as they were in hyperspace, Zach convinced Niko to go lie down in the back of Ranger-One and rest. It had taken some work on his part, but in the end, he had "used" Goose on her. His argument, "What would Goose say if he were in this situation, Niko?"  
  
"He'd say, 'be prepared,'" Niko sighed in resignation. She could see where Zach's logic was going.  
  
"And, what would he say if he were here now?"  
  
"That I ought to get some rest while I can."  
  
"Right, now, please, go in back and try to get some sleep," Zach asked, not ordered. This wasn't something he could order her to do.  
  
Niko gave Zach a small smile and said, "Thanks, Zach."  
  
"For what? I'm doing this as much for my own peace of mind as much as anything else," was his answer.  
  
She got up and headed to the back of the ship to rest, passing Doc along the way.  
  
"Niko, are you all right?" he asked, looking up from the computer console he was working at.  
  
"No, not really, but I'll survive." She gave him a sad half-smile before going to lay down in the bunk area.  
  
Doc watched her go, unsure of what to say, and finally a few moments later, he returned to tinkering away at the computer console.  
  
Alone, Niko sat on the edge of a bunk and stared absently off into space for a few moments. What was it that had touched her psyche during recharge? She puzzled it over as she removed her boots and stretched out on the bunk. Finally, exhaustion won out, and she fell asleep. Soon, she found herself caught up in a dream that was no ordinary dream...  
  
Light years from Tortuna, in what was commonly referred to as the Queen's Graveyard, the Queen of the Crown sat on her throne in her special asteroid, her Psychocrypt. Her throne was positioned in front of the Psychocrypt conversion chamber and various other assorted equipment.  
  
On the floor of the chamber, almost directly in front of her throne, there was a great deal of activity surrounding one piece of equipment that had a peculiarly shaped bracket device coming out of the top of it.  
  
One of the 'Crypt technicians turned to the throne and said, "The dream machine is ready, Your Majesty."  
  
The Queen said, "Excellent. Here is the crystal for you to place in the machine."  
  
The technician bowed and moved forward to take the Psychocrystal. He placed the crystal in the bracket atop the machine.  
  
For a moment a face appeared in the crystal, showing whose life-force was trapped inside-- Shane Gooseman's.  
  
The technician turned the machine on and the crystal began to glow.  
  
The Queen leaned forward in her throne and said in an almost whisper, "Niko... Niko..."  
  
On Ranger-One, Niko was caught in the Queen's nightmare, some part of her knowing that it was the Queen's nightmare, but was powerless to fight it.  
  
"Niko... Niko..." A voice called out to her, out of the utter darkness that surrounded her.  
  
"Goose?" Niko answered, confused. Where was this place?  
  
"Niko... Niko..." the voice called again.  
  
Niko now found herself standing on a platform of some kind, in the middle of a black void. The voice seemed to be all around her. She couldn't tell from which direction it was coming. She spun around, feeling like she was moving in slow-motion. "Shane?"  
  
"Niko..." the Queen said, an evil smile on her face.  
  
Niko heard Shane's voice and asked, "Shane? Where are you?"  
  
"Niko... I'm here," the Queen said, knowing that it was Shane's voice Niko was hearing.  
  
"Where, Shane?" Niko asked, turning around in a complete circle once more.  
  
A column of light appeared and Shane stood in the middle of it, his hand outstretched as if reaching to her.  
  
Niko reached out to him, "Shane, where are you?"  
  
"I'm here, Niko," Shane said, not explaining anything.  
  
"Where, Goose?" Niko asked puzzled. "What is this place?"  
  
"Niko, come to me..." the Queen said, enjoying herself thoroughly. It was so easy to play with these humans' minds. Their emotions would be their downfall.  
  
Niko ran to the edge of the circular platform and said, "Shane, I can't reach you!"  
  
Shane reached out his hand again. He was closer this time. His fingertips brushed against hers. "You can make the jump, Niko. Please come here. I need your help..."  
  
She hesitated. She didn't think she could make it...  
  
Niko shivered. Something didn't feel right, but she prepared to try again. She backed up and told that nagging doubt in the back of her head to be silent. She started running, preparing to make the leap.  
  
"Niko, jump!" Shane said. But, was it really Shane?  
  
With a cry, she leapt across the chasm, missing the edge of the platform by centimeters. She fell, only to be caught by the wrist. She was pulled up on to the platform and she wrapped her arms around Shane.  
  
"Oh, Goose," she said, heart still pounding. "Thank you." She started to relax as his strong arms snaked around her.  
  
"No problem," Shane answered. "It was no problem at all, my dear Niko..."  
  
The voice was right, but not the inflection! Niko froze and tried to push him away.  
  
"You aren't Shane!" she said, trying to pull herself from the now- suffocating grip around her ribs. Niko opened her eyes and looked up into the hooded cowl of a Slaverlord. The Queen's face was peering down into hers, a mockery of a smile pasted on her face.  
  
"I have your love, my dear Niko, and soon I will have you!" the Queen said, via the Slaverlord.  
  
"NOOOOOO....." she sat up, still asleep, screaming in denial of the terror the Queen was trying to make her feel.  
  
She finally managed to push away from the Slaverlord, but she backed up a step too far... Her heel slid off the edge of the platform. She tried to regain her balance, but it only succeeded in making her even further off- balance. The Slaverlord laughed in the Queen's voice.  
  
But almost as an undertone, she could hear Shane crying out in sympathy.  
  
"Give up, my dear, you can't escape," the Queen declared.  
  
The Slaverlord shoved Niko off the platform, and she was falling... falling...  
  
What more did the Queen want?  
  
She kept on falling down an endless pit in the dream.  
  
"Never!" she screamed.  
  
But, the dream continued on....  
  
And when she finally landed, it was in the conversion chamber of the Psychocrypt. But, she wasn't the one about to be converted. It was Shane!  
  
"Niko," he pleaded. "Help me."  
  
"No! I won't let you do this to me!" she protested. "I won't allow you to force me to watch this!"  
  
She tried to shut it out...  
  
"Won't let me? Oh, Niko, dear, you are so quaint..." the Queen laughed sarcastically. "You forget, I control everything here. This is my domain."  
  
But whether her eyes in the dream were open or shut didn't matter. There was no way to block it out.  
  
The Slaverlord threw the switch, and the conversion chamber powered up. She looked into the chamber, and her eyes met Shane's. His green eyes reached out with a mixture of fear, pain, and (what made Niko shudder the most) love.  
  
Niko was powerless to resist the images the Queen planted in her mind, nor the suffering of Shane as his life-force was pulled from his body and imprisoned in a Psychocrystal. She wanted to stop this, but she could do nothing. She cried out with a suffering of her own as the red light hit him.  
  
"NO!!! Shane!!!" She sobbed, wishing there was some way she could help him, but knowing now that it was too late, that this was only a memory pulled from Shane's mind.  
  
"Niko," she heard his voice whisper. "I'm sorry, babe. You weren't meant to know..."  
  
The Queen just sat on her throne and laughed. "Love," she said. "A much more powerful weapon than battleships. You aren't the first loves I've parted, Lady Niko, and you won't be the last!"  
  
Niko found the strength somewhere deep inside her to shout from the bottom of her soul, "GO TO HELL, Your Majesty!"  
  
"You are in hell, my dear, and your only way out is though me!"  
  
She woke up, eyes wide, and shaking. Zachary nodded to Doc, who handed him a glass of water. Niko took it gratefully.  
  
It was several moments before she could talk coherently.  
  
"You were screaming," explained Doc. "What happened?"  
  
Niko looked up and talked directly to Zachary. "Zach, she's... Shane is... Oh, Gods...Shane is in the Psychocrypt. I...saw it."  
  
"Saw it?" asked Doc. "The dream machine?"  
  
Niko nodded mutely. She heard Zachary mutter out a colorful stream of curses.  
  
"But how?" Doc asked. "I thought that only worked because of some harmonic thingy between Zach's bionics and his implant?"  
  
Niko shuddered. "I... don't really know..."  
  
Zachary turned to Doc. "Not quite. The Queen can manipulate me the way she does because I love Eliza. Emotional bonds are tools to her."  
  
"There's the fact that my Gifts make me a little more... receptive. That goes both ways - good and bad," said Niko.  
  
"Glad she doesn't have Maya," Doc said dryly. He avoided mentioning the existence of a bond between Goose and Niko.  
  
"That'll happen someday if we don't stop her now." Zach said.  
  
Just then, GeeVee popped up on a nearby monitor and said, "Ten minutes to Tortuna space, Captain Foxx."  
  
Zachary let go of Niko. "Are you going to be okay, Niko?"  
  
She nodded. "I'll be fine, Captain. I'm just a little shaken."  
  
Doc lingered for a moment after Zach left and asked, "Are you sure you'll be all right, Niko?"  
  
She nodded, she had to put on a brave face, "Yeah, Doc, I will." She patted Doc's shoulder. "Thanks, Doc."  
  
Doc got up and went forward to the front of the ship.  
  
Once alone, tears threatened to overwhelm Niko, but she refused to give into them. She had to keep it together to rescue Shane.... She had to, otherwise it would be all over.  
  
Niko picked up her boots and went to the back. She'd have to get into the Zanguil outfit very soon.  
  
* * * *  
  
The Queen sat back in her throne and nodded to the technician to shut the dream machine down. The ground work was laid, and soon, very soon, she'd have one more of the Galaxy Rangers in her service. She fingered Goose's crystal almost lovingly after the technician handed it back to her.  
  
"Oh yes, my dear Niko, you will serve your Queen..." she said and then tucked the crystal away in her cloak. The time would come soon enough to make a Slaverlord of the Galaxy Ranger she had in her Psychocrypt, but for the moment, she had other business to attend to.  
  
She stood up and wrapped her cloak about her. She left the conversion chamber and headed for the medical facilities. Having to delay making a Slaverlord of that presumptuous human, Daisy O'Mega, might yet prove useful. She could use that human's transformation to break the Galaxy Ranger Niko to her will. The thought made her smile evilly.  
  
Upon her entrance in the medical facilities, the technician straightened from the instrument panel he had been leaning over and bowed, "Your Majesty."  
  
"So, tell me, technician, how is your patient doing?" The Queen moved in closer to check Daisy over visually.  
  
She was under heavy sedation and had restraints on both wrists, keeping her tied to the bed.  
  
"Despite her injuries, Your Majesty, she is a most healthy specimen and should make an excellent addition to your Psychocrypt," the technician answered, looking back at her chart once more.  
  
"How long before she can withstand the transformation process?" The Queen was eager to transform this human.  
  
"Not for another seventy-two hours at the minimum, Your Majesty," the technician almost sounded disappointed that it was going to take that long.  
  
The Queen's eyes narrowed. That would be just about the time to teach her new student another lesson.... "That will do just fine. I plan to use her conversion as a lesson for my new pupil that I expect to have willingly joined my service by that time. Keep me informed of her condition. I want to make sure she will survive the conversion process," The Queen ordered.  
  
The technician bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty. I will see to it that she is strong enough to survive the conversion process."  
  
"Excellent," the Queen said. She flung her cape about her once more and left the medical facilities.  
  
Now, she had to plan for the capture of the remaining Galaxy Rangers team. She headed for her communications room to contact her troops on Tortuna to set the trap for the Rangers. Oh yes, she knew exactly where they were headed. The same bar where the Black Hole Gang had captured Ranger Gooseman. How poetic....  
  
* * * *  
  
The three Rangers, now dressed as Zanquils, rode their cybersteeds up to the guard post at the entrance to the main dome of Tortuna City. The Crown Agents had gotten greedier since the last time they had bribed their way into the city. Instead of the six hundred crowns, the guards now wanted eight hundred crowns. Zach almost choked at the amount.  
  
But it was Doc with one of his usual , "Oh, fearless leader, I would suggest that you pay the man since I'm allergic to torture," that got him to hand over the stuffed bag of crowns. The crown guards had laughed, and what could have been a bad situation was quickly diffused.  
  
"Where to now, Zach?" Doc asked once they were inside the dome.  
  
"Geezie's shop. I want to know if he's found out anything more on Goose and see if he can get us into the Queen's asteroid complex," Zach answered.  
  
Niko rode along in between, still troubled by the nightmare. It had scared her more than she was willing to admit, and longed for something to divert her mind from its present train of thought...  
  
The Rangers left their cyberhorses at a parking facility just inside the dome and headed on foot to Geezie's shop. They blended into the crowd much better without the horses and this time, they didn't really want to attract attention. Even Niko had managed to pull her hair up under her Zanquil hat.  
  
They entered Geezie's shop, only to find him nowhere in sight, but heard him moving around in the back of the shop, and then call out, "I'll be right there!"  
  
He came bustling out of the nether regions of the shop and stopped short when he saw the Zanquil outfits.  
  
"Zanquils! I don't do business with Zanquil Slavers!" the Pendulant bristled with outrage.  
  
"Guess again, Geezie," Zach said, pulling the concealing cloth of the Zanquil costume from his face.  
  
"Galaxy Ranger Zachary Foxx!" Geezie exclaimed.  
  
"Hi Geezie, you miss us?" Doc grinned, also pulling the concealing cloth on his costume away from his face.  
  
"What can I do for you today, Galaxy Rangers?"  
  
"Information, Geezie, information," Zach said sternly. "I want to know what happened to Ranger Gooseman, Geezie."  
  
Geezie trumpeted, "I already told that Commander Humming all I know!"  
  
"Tell me now. Goose is one of my men and I don't intend to let the Queen keep him as a Slaverlord." Zach said with menace. He meant what he said.  
  
Geezie backed up a couple of steps, waving his hands in front of him, "All right, all right! I'll tell you what I know! Just let me make sure we won't be disturbed."  
  
He went to lock the front door and pull down the shade that had "closed" written on it. He led the Rangers to the lower level of the shop before he told them what he had told Goose about the Sunset Bar over in Sorry End being the Black Hole Gang's latest "public" hang-out on Tortuna.  
  
"I warned him not to go there, yes I did," Geezie felt he had to defend himself.  
  
"What happened at the Sunset Bar?" Zach asked, with just a hint of menace in his voice.  
  
"The Black Hole Gang! That's what happened!" Geezie answered. "The Ranger found the Black Hole Gang and got himself captured by them."  
  
"How, Geezie?"  
  
"It was a set-up. They attacked him from behind and shot him in the back!" Geezie blurted out.  
  
Niko paled considerably at this confirmation of her vision.  
  
"When did this happen?" Zach asked all the questions. He could be as good as Goose when it came to being intimidating.  
  
Geezie had to think for a minute, "About eight hours ago."  
  
Zach cursed, that gave MaCross more than enough time to have handed Goose over to the Queen of the Crown, and more than enough time for her to have transformed him into a Slaverlord as Niko had seen in her horrible nightmare on board Ranger-One on the flight out from Earth.  
  
"Where's MaCross now?" Zach asked, eyes narrowed in thought.  
  
"He's off-planet now," Geezie said apologetically. He had no love for the Black Hole Gang either. He continued, taking a deep breath, "Shortly after the brawl at the Sunset Bar, he took off in a land-cruiser with two bundles in the back under a tarp. He went to the Queen's dome, the Excellon, and delivered his 'cargo.'"  
  
"What was his cargo?" Zach asked.  
  
"It was the Blonde Ranger Humming and that Daisy O'Mega Humming," Geezie answered, his whole body seeming to droop as he told the news.  
  
Niko's knees buckled. It was true then, the Queen had transformed Goose... Doc was quickly at her side and supported her with a hand at her elbow. He quietly told her, "Easy, Niko. Just take it easy."  
  
Zach cursed. He had hoped that it would be otherwise, but now he knew what they had to do. He put his shoulders back and pulled the face wrap back up over the lower half of his face. He gave Niko an understanding glance and turned his attention back to Geezie.  
  
"Thanks for the information, Geezie." He said, before turning and nodding to Doc and Niko that it was time to go.  
  
As they walked back up to the main level of the shop, Geezie stayed where he was for the moment and called out behind them, "Remember Galaxy Rangers, you never saw me!! I don't exist!"  
  
Doc couldn't hide the grin that found its way to his face. Some things would never change, and Geezie was one of them. "Geezie, it's so nice to know you care for us!" he quipped.  
  
Geezie sighed and shook his head, why did he ever bother to get involved with these Hummings in the first place?  
  
Outside the shop, Doc asked Zach, "Where to now, Zach?"  
  
"The Sunset Bar in Sorry End. I'd like to see if Geezie was right about MaCross being off-planet..." Zach answered, eyes narrowed, and hat pulled down low on his brow. He turned to Niko and asked, "Are you all right, Niko?"  
  
"I think so. I just didn't want to believe it, but..." Niko's eyes were full of agony.  
  
Zach put a hand on her shoulder and said, I know, Niko, I know. But we are going to get Goose back. Even if I have to face a court-martial when we get back to Earth."  
  
"Thanks, Zach," Niko answered.  
  
Doc tried to find a quip, or some remark to make, but couldn't find anything to say as the trio headed back to where they had left the cyberhorses.  
  
The Ranger trio got their horses and headed over to Sorry End and the Sunset Bar. Once they were outside the bar, Zach told Brutus, "Keep your ears open, Brutus, let us know if trouble's coming."  
  
"Right," Brutus answered.  
  
"Doc, Niko, watch your backs. We don't know what we're going to find in there." Zach said, checking to make sure he had his blaster and that it had a full charge. Doc and Niko both checked their weapons; Doc, his blaster pistol, and Niko her blaster shotgun.  
  
The three Rangers entered the bar, looking for the Black Hole Gang. They walked up to the bar, and were about to order drinks when glass shattered, when the bar filled with the screams of blasters and the splintering of wood.  
  
"Hit the floor!" Zach shouted.  
  
Doc needed no prompting, leaping behind an overturned table and firing his blaster at the thick herds of purple and black suited guards, that seemed to be coming out of the woodwork.  
  
Niko was near the middle of the bar and had kicked aside a couple of the mob, but they were closing in. She found cover and started blasting away with her shotgun.  
  
The horses were also trying to hold their own. They were lashing out with their hind-legs, taking out two to three of the robots at a time. Brutus bucked, knocking one robot clear off his feet, tossing him into another cluster of troops, scattering them, and shattering a plate-glass window. Brutus took the opening and jumped through the broken window to go help his rider. The other cyberhorses followed him into the bar.  
  
The Queen's robots troops were everywhere! She must have sent a full battalion against the team.  
  
One of the soldiers tried to throw himself on Voyager. She bucked him off. Another one tried to shoot Mel and scorched the ornamental mane. Mel neighed in anger and lashed out with his hind legs, taking out four more of the robots.  
  
Doc tried to shoot his blaster and got nothing. Picking up a blaster from an unconscious thug, he started to keep firing, but the more he took down, the more came.  
  
Zachary was also fighting to keep from being overwhelmed. He managed to get over to Brutus.  
  
"They're multiplying! I swear!" Doc shouted over the din. He dived to the side as a blaster bolt took a chunk out of the table he was using as a shield.  
  
Voyager and Brutus managed to fight their way to their riders.  
  
Zachary struggled to mount up, kicking Crown troops off his legs in the process. Doc stumbled onto Voyager.  
  
"Come on Wilbur!" Voyager said, prancing in place.  
  
"Fall back!" Zachary ordered. "There's too many of them!"  
  
"One of these days, I'm going to get all the bugs out of your programming, Voyager..." Doc muttered, turning to shoot at another of the robots.  
  
"Mel! Over here!" Niko called out to her cyberhorse.  
  
Another shot, and Mel screeched. It was a lucky shot. Sparks shot out of his neck.  
  
Niko started moving towards her cyberhorse, fighting off the robots in her way. She saw Mel get hit, "Mel!"  
  
Voyager and Brutus had fought a way out, and Niko was only a few steps from Mel. She got close. "I'm coming."  
  
Zach turned to look over his shoulder, "Niko! Come on!"  
  
She was about to get back on when another volley of shots broke out. One of them hit her shoulder. She slumped over Mel's back.  
  
"Niko!" shouted Doc. He turned Voyager around and went to go back in after her.  
  
Mel tried to stagger out of the bar, but like a group of piranhas, the Crown troops were swarming around them...  
  
Zach, wheeled Brutus around and joined Doc with a look of grim determination on his face. The Queen wasn't going to get anymore of his friends if he could help it.  
  
Doc and Zach charged towards him on top their cyberhorses.  
  
The Guards thinned a little, leaving what looked like a mangled cross between a stripped car and a dead horse behind.  
  
Niko was nowhere near Mel.  
  
And from behind the building, a Crown shuttle blasted upwards.  
  
Zach and Doc looked up in unison. "She must be in that shuttle!" Doc said, fighting off another crown robot.  
  
"Let's get back to GeeVee," Zach ordered, already spurring Brutus into action.  
  
"Right!" Doc said, wheeling Voyager around. "You don't have to tell me twice!" Doc said, bending low over Voyager's neck.  
  
The Rangers and cybersteeds fought to cut a path through the teeming guards. The ozone smell of blaster fire filled the air, and shots of deadly light whizzed past. The cyberhorses raced down the streets of the domed city.  
  
Voyager stopped near what was left of Mel for a moment. "Wilbur. Get Mel."  
  
Doc understood what Voyager was talking about. Mel's central processing unit which held the personality chip. He grabbed the small device, then spurred Voyager on to catch up to Brutus.  
  
A shot whizzed by Doc, scorching the edge of the Zanquil parka. He clutched onto Voyager's reigns with one hand and pressed the memory disk containing Mel's personality program against his chest.  
  
"Come on Voyager! I don't want to end up as Psychocrypt fodder," Doc complained, ducking to avoid another shot.  
  
Barely ahead, Brutus was already reaching the gate. Zachary turned dangerously in the saddle to fire at the Crown Agents behind them.  
  
Voyager whinnied and started to dash. The old girl might have been shy a few chips, but she knew how to bolt when it required it.  
  
"I'm going as fast as I can, Wilbur," she said, head stretched out, and her legs pumping.  
  
The ship was straight ahead of them, but it seemed to get further and further away.  
  
GV was hovering, blasters keeping the crown agents at bay.  
  
Brutus dodged a blast and wavered a bit in his step, coming dangerously close to throwing Zachary from the saddle.  
  
"Come on Doc!" Zach yelled as he regained his balance.  
  
"Coming!" Doc said, dodging the heavy blaster fire.  
  
"GeeVee!" Zach called, "Set down and lower the lift!"  
  
It seemed that the lift took ten times longer than any other time.  
  
Zach turned in his saddle to fire one more shot with his blaster at the approaching crown agents.  
  
Voyager passed Brutus and raced for the lift.  
  
"Captain! Let's move!" Doc shouted as he raced past and got on to the lift.  
  
"Raise the lift, GeeVee!" Zach cried, once Brutus made the leap on to the lift.  
  
"Raising Lift, Captain Foxx, sir," GeeVee answered.  
  
Without bothering to secure the horses, both men rushed to the cockpit.  
  
"GeeVee- can you get a heading on where that crown shuttle was going?" Zach asked, hastily buckling himself in the pilot's seat.  
  
"Heading before the leap into hyperspace indicates that they are headed for the Asteroid Palace."  
  
Zach growled, "Great, just great.... GeeVee, plot a course for the Queen's Graveyard. We're going after Niko."  
  
"Course coordinates plotted, Captain Foxx, sir," the AI replied.  
  
"Then, make the jump GeeVee. Doc, take care of Brutus and Voyager, see that they're secured."  
  
"Right," Doc said, getting up from his seat.  
  
"Captain Foxx the shots from the Crown agents have done damage to my Hyperdrive system. I might be unable to make the jump into hyperspace," GeeVee said.  
  
"Doc, get on it!" Zach barked out the orders, "GeeVee, just get us out of here."  
  
Doc went to work on the more urgent priority, the hyperdrive. He pulled some fried wires from a panel, then ran to the storage cabinet and tried his best to make the patch job.  
  
Zachary heard the panel swing shut and Doc's voice well from the back. "It's the best I can do. Hit it, Captain!"  
  
Zachary didn't wait a microsecond before hitting the jump button. The ship's deckplates surged beneath his feet.  
  
* * * *  
  
While Doc had struggled to make repairs to the ship, the Crown shuttle had slipped into hyperspace, carrying one more of the Galaxy Rangers for the Queen. Their destination was indeed the Asteroid Palace inside the Queen's Graveyard.  
  
  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	7. Chapter VII And its news is captured fo...

Chapter VII "'Cause it's time, it's time in time  
  
With your time, and its news is captured  
  
For the Queen to use..."  
  
I've Seen All Good People, Yes  
  
The hyperspace jump was a short one, and soon the shuttle dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the asteroid field where the Queen of the Crown's Psychocrypt was. After docking, the guards dumped the unconscious Niko unceremoniously in a cell and locked the door behind them as they left.  
  
The dungeonmaster informed the Queen of the Crown that the Galaxy Ranger was in a cell, awaiting her pleasure. The Queen smiled and said that she would be there shortly to visit with her guest and told him to have a wide selection of her interrogation drugs ready for her to use upon her arrival.  
  
The dungeonmaster nodded and answered, "Yes, Your Majesty, everything will be ready for you when you arrive." The Queen nodded and cut the transmission.  
  
A few minutes later, she arrived in the dungeon, flanked by two guards instead of her usual two Slaverlords. The dungeonmaster bowed to her before moving to open the cell door for the Queen and her guards. The guards entered first and began waking Niko up, using the butts of their blaster- rifles.  
  
Niko awoke to a sharp pain in her ribs. Instinctively, she tried to roll away and get into a fighting crouch as the butt of a blaster rifle slammed into her back. She fell back to the floor with a grunt and tried again. She finally managed to grab a leg and pull it out from underneath her captor. She tried to get the blaster and some distance from her attacker. As soon as she made a move for the blaster, she was slammed forward by another sharp rifle butt. She stumbled and fell to the floor again. She lay there for a moment winded, her ribs on fire, and when she could breathe, she moved her head and saw a pair of black suede boots.  
  
Her eyes widened in surprise. This wasn't one of the guards...  
  
"Still a fighter, Little Niko? Good. I always admired that about you."  
  
She slowly looked up and saw the Queen of the Crown peering down at her. Lord and Lady, Sorceress and Scholar... "What?" asked Niko, trying to recover her bearings. "Is the Psychocrypt broken?"  
  
"Oh no, Niko.... I have something else planned for you..." the Queen purred.  
  
"Something else?" Niko asked.  
  
"Yes, child," the Queen answered. "I want you to serve me as my willing pupil."  
  
"You'll ice skate in hell before that happens," Niko said, repeating something she'd heard Doc say once.  
  
"I'm sure I can manage to change your mind," the Queen answered.  
  
Niko shivered. The Queen's persuasion usually left broken bones and bruises. Absently, she rubbed her collarbone and forearm.  
  
"But, that can wait until after you tell me what I wish to know..." the Queen answered.  
  
"I won't tell you anything, Your Majesty, and you know it. You'll have to rip my mind out first," Niko said with more defiance than she felt.  
  
"No... I want your mind intact, for now..." the Queen said. "I'll get the information from you another way, my dear."  
  
Niko hated those two words when the Queen said them. She backed up a little bit, holding back on saying anything else that might aggravate the situation.  
  
The Queen motioned to a third guard standing just outside the doorway. He came forward with a tray that had various hypodermic needles on it. She looked at the guard and said, "Use the interrogation drugs only. I want her intact otherwise, since I have plans for her."  
  
She turned her attention back to Niko, "I am also an amateur scientist, Niko. My field of study is pain. Your captain, for instance, has always made an interesting subject in mental anguish studies. You... will make an interesting subject on many more levels. Physical torment, mental duress... yes, you will prove to be a fascinating test subject."  
  
Niko shuddered. She only hoped that she could use her gifts to block out whatever they were going to do to her.  
  
"And your psychic abilities open you to even more delightful realms of experimentation. You will suffer constantly, little Niko. Not just for days or even weeks but years, decades..." The Queen said.  
  
How long would her psychic gifts protect her? Niko wondered.  
  
The Queen nodded to the two other guards in the cell who each got a good grip on Niko's arms after a brief struggle. She traced Niko's arm with a light, icy finger. She stopped at a spot on the inside of Niko's elbow. "Inject the first one here."  
  
The guard nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty."  
  
Niko tried to struggle but the hypodermic needle hit her vein precisely and discharged its contents. The stuff rushed to her head almost immediately, making her dizzy, and her head felt three feet thick. Her knees buckled and she would have fallen but for the guards holding her arms. Her head lolled on her shoulders, too heavy for her to hold up.  
  
"My first question," the Queen asked. "Is this - Do you come from Earth?"  
  
"Yes..." Niko slurred. She didn't want to answer but somehow the will was overridden. Then, a second later, "No..." she heard herself saying.  
  
"Where are you from, if not from earth?" the Queen questioned. "What is your homeworld?"  
  
Niko tried to resist and partially succeeded, "Circle... Can't... tell... you..."  
  
"Another five gigils."  
  
"Yes, Your Majesty."  
  
The robot guard next to the Queen injected another bit into Niko's arm.  
  
"Now, where are you from, Little Niko?"  
  
"Not on map, or by scanner..." Niko slurred out. "Nowhere."  
  
The Queen's eyes narrowed as she digested this piece of information. Niko heard her grumble, "It would be like them to send a mere girl against me." Then, "Who sent you?"  
  
"No one. Sent myself."  
  
The Queen thought a moment, her eyes resting on the tray of hypodermics, then turned back to Niko. "I see... Will your precious league come following you?"  
  
"Did this 'gainst orders. Zach... Doc... maybe..."  
  
The Queen said, "Ah, Captain Zachary Foxx..." She laughed low in her throat, "and perhaps Ranger Hartford as well... delightful."  
  
She pulled out something from her cloak. "The last questions I have to ask you," she purred, "Concern this."  
  
Niko managed to hold her head up long enough to look at the object in the Queen's hand. Her vision was foggy but, she saw something red that glowed faintly in the Queen's hand. The object was put in her hands and Niko could sense the Queen's presence.  
  
The Queen forced herself into Niko's mind, heightening her senses and her perceptions. Images, emotions, flooded into her. The distant sounds of and screams. Niko tried to retreat from the invading presence in her mind. No, anything but this....  
  
"You know who he is, don't you?" the Queen said. "You came to rescue him."  
  
Niko sobbed, "Yes." She had to answer the question; she had no choice.  
  
"Tell me whose life-force I have taken," the Queen said, her voice as cold and smooth as a frozen pond.  
  
"Shane, Shane Gooseman." Niko was crying openly now, as the images and emotions poured through the forced link with the crystal.  
  
"I see," the Queen said. She went in for the killing blow. "And what are your... feelings for Ranger Gooseman?"  
  
Niko was shaking. Grieving, terrified, drugged and fighting a losing battle. Every fiber of her tried to resist. "I...."  
  
"Tell me, Niko, what are your feelings for him?" the Queen repeated.  
  
Niko couldn't control her quaking. "I... I... No!"  
  
The Queen was pleased with this last bit of resistance from her. She dug her fingernails into Niko's chin and said, "Tell me, Niko."  
  
With tears running down her face, Niko admitted, "I love him...."  
  
Still keeping her chin in a deathgrip, the Queen turned to whisper in Niko's ear. "That's all I wanted to know."  
  
Niko's whole body went limp and the two guards holding her up let her fallto the floor in a heap. The Queen had gotten the information she wanted.  
  
The Queen ordered the guards to leave and she knelt next to Niko, now helpless on the floor. "There," she said. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Gently, she brushed the hair from Niko's face before rising.  
  
Niko flinched and would have moved away if she'd had the strength. She whispered in one last act of defiance, "You won't always be able to force your way in my mind like that, Your Majesty."  
  
"I won't have to, Lady Niko," the Queen answered, looking down on her. "Soon, you'll let me in ofyour own free will."  
  
With a swish of her red cape, the Queen casually picked up Shane's crystal, then left the cell.  
  
Niko lay where she had collapsed, tears streaming down her face, her arms wrapped protectively around her tender ribs. "Oh, Shane.... what have I done?"  
  
* * * *  
  
A short time later, Doc came back to the bridge.  
  
"We're traveling at about three-quarters our usual speed in hyperspace, but the horses are secure." Doc reported.  
  
"Good," Zach answered looking straight ahead. "Strap in."  
  
Doc nodded and strapped into the co-pilot's seat.  
  
"GeeVee, can you give me a status on that crown shuttle?" Zach asked sometime later as they approached the asteroid belt. Ranger-One cautiously negotiated the asteroid field, more out of fear of being spotted than fear of the asteroids themselves.  
  
"Heavy Shielding. Type Eight Imperial Blaster Cannons, crew reads thirty live guards."  
  
"Live guards? I didn't think that the Queen had any live guards," Doc questioned.  
  
"I read thirty live guards, Ranger Hartford." GeeVee answered.  
  
"There's a lot about the Queen we don't know, Doc. We can only guess that her troops are androids."  
  
"Right, Captain." Doc said.  
  
"GeeVee, what else can you tell me about that ship? Is there anyway we can sneak on-board that shuttle without being caught?"  
  
"Shuttle is moving away from asteroid base. It would appear that they have already off-loaded."  
  
"Blast!" Zach said, bringing his fist down on the arm of his chair.  
  
Doc didn't say a word, just shook his head and looked over the base readouts.  
  
"Uh-oh, Captain Foxx, I am reading several crown ships moving in on our position. It appears that we have been spotted," GeeVee reported, his voice quaking.  
  
Zachary and Doc sprung into action, Doc activating the shields and fire controls, Zach grabbing the piloting stick.  
  
"I see them, Captain!" Doc said from his position at the firing controls "They're closing in fast!"  
  
The crown ships slid into position around the Ranger ship.  
  
"Hold on, Doc," Zach said before starting to jerk the ship around for evasive maneuvers. "Going for pattern Sierra."  
  
"Right, Captain," Doc answered.  
  
The crown ships opened fire as Zach maneuvered the ship. Ranger-One whipped around an asteroid and came back, only to get broadsided with a volley of shots from the Crown fighters launched from the base. The jolt hit the ship hard, rocking it out of control for a moment. If Zachary and Doc hadn't been strapped in, they would have been tossed like rag dolls.  
  
"Doc, how are our shields?" Zach asked, struggling to bring the ship about.  
  
"We've lost port shields totally!" yelled Doc, "Another hit over there and we're risking a hull breech." He tried to compensate and shift power from another secondary system to that area but was met with a scorching burn when he tried to touch his control panel. He yowled and jerked his hand away. "Controls are ionized!"  
  
"Can your tweaker programs do anything?" Zach questioned.  
  
Doc shook his head and pulled out the CDU. "I'm giving it a go!" He touched his badge, activating his implant, giving him a direct link to his -tweaker programs. The holographic diamond flashed before him, "All tweakers - this is an emergency! Give me everything you've got to keep those shields up!"  
  
"Right on, Doc!" one of the tweakers answered.  
  
"Let's go!" another one called.  
  
"Pathfinder, see what you can do about de-ionizing these controls," Doc specifically asked one of the tweakers. The tiny, glowing hacker-programs flew into the console and Doc was able to regain partial control.  
  
"Captain, I've got some control but I don't know how long it will last!" Doc called.  
  
"Can you shift power from somewhere to give the shields more power, Doc?" Zach asked, using all his piloting skills to avoid the Crown fighters. The Crown ships came in for another sweep. Doc was able to fire the cannons and blast a couple of them. They spun out of control and crashed into the asteroids.  
  
"I'm already doing everything I can to keep us breathing, Zach," he said. "All non-essential functions are down."  
  
"The asteroid has just launched more fighters, Captain Foxx, sir." GeeVee replied, his blue-green holographic eyeball quivering in fear.  
  
Zach, trying to gain some sort of control, called over to Doc, "I'm going to move deeper into the asteroid belt to see if I can lose them. That seems like our only chance!"  
  
Doc complained half-heartedly, "I knew I never should have signed that Ranger application!"  
  
"Too late for that... heading right for the asteroid field!"  
  
Time seemed to freeze for Zach as he looked at the fortress... No... Goose and Niko were as good as dead unless he got them out... or maybe it was too late already...He hoped it wasn't...  
  
Looking up at Zach's face, Doc said, "Captain we are of no use to them dead! We have to get out of here!" he called, hoping to get through to Zach.  
  
* * * *  
  
In the palace, the Queen sat on her throne and watched calmly as the Ranger ship dived further into the asteroid belt. It would make this much more interesting... She summoned her guards to bring Niko to her. Now I will break her, she thought as she watched the shuttle slowly make its way through the asteroids.  
  
Within moments, the guards returned with Niko between them. The Queen looked her over and purred with delight as the woman shivered.  
  
"The Psychocrypt," Niko said dully.  
  
"No, dear. Not yet." The Queen gestured to the monitor. "It's your Captain Foxx making a foolhardy attempt to rescue you."  
  
Niko turned and looked at the monitor then took an involuntary step back when she recognized the ship on the screen. It was Ranger-One! Niko took in a deep breath. "No.... oh no..." she whispered under her breath.  
  
"Oh yes, indeed, Niko... You know that both he and Ranger Hartford would be willing to make any attempt to rescue you and Ranger Gooseman from my clutches... even brave death... I'm afraid they will not be successful."  
  
"I thought you wanted them as more trophies for the Psychocrypt?"  
  
The Queen stood up, her ruby eyes locked on Niko's. "Their fate, my little Niko, is entirely up to you."  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked, as she watched the pitiful remnant of Ranger- One move across the screen.  
  
"I can call off the attack," she said, moving to whisper the words in Niko's ear, "With one push of a button, I can send the fighters away."  
  
Niko jumped at the Queen's nearness and said, "Why should I believe you?"  
  
"Do you have any choice?" The Queen answered. "Because, my dear. You are valuable."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Agree to my terms and I'll let them go. Refuse me and they die."  
  
"What are your terms?" Niko asked.  
  
"Surrender and pledge your willing servitude to me."  
  
"Why me? You know I will never serve you willingly," she questioned, shocked.  
  
"Oh, you will, if you want them to live..." The shock turned to a look of understanding as she turned back to the screen. "Make your choice, Niko," the Queen pressed.  
  
* * * *  
  
"We still don't have enough power!" shouted Doc as he tried again to fire the useless blasters. The fighters were coming closer, closer... almost within range. One more hit and they were done for.  
  
"Why aren't we finished?? They could have gotten rid of us long ago," Zach asked looking at the in-coming ships. "What are they waiting for?"  
  
* * * *  
  
In the asteroid, Niko stood motionless staring at the monitor in disbelief.  
  
"It's time to make your choice, Niko: join me and your friends will live, or refuse me and send them to their graves. You won't be able to save him," the Queen said. "But you have a chance to save them. They don't have the strength to save themselves. If you refuse, I promise that you will die with them."  
  
Niko shivered... The Queen was right... what choice did she have? She asked, "If I accept... you will let them go?"  
  
"Yes, I will let them go," the Queen answered, then added under her breath, "For now."  
  
"All right then, I surrender," Niko said, looking at the Queen. She swallowed, fighting to keep her fear at bay.  
  
The Queen walked to a panel, pressed a button and Ranger-One was left alone in space as the Crown fighters returned to the asteroid base.  
  
She said, "Wise choice, Niko."  
  
Niko was shaking, watching the small ship limp away. She hoped, but didn't believe that Ranger-One would hold together long enough to make it back to the League. Gods... what had she done? Giving BETA a fighting chance, she reminded herself.  
  
The Queen smiled. Oh, did she have plans for Niko. Then her voice intruded on Niko's thoughts, "No, my dear, BETA has no chance against my armada."  
  
Niko's voice was shaky, "Can I be alone, Majesty?"  
  
"You may have a moment, my dear."  
  
Niko shuddered. She walked away, into a lavatory and lost the contents of her stomach into a basin. She knelt there for a time, trying to muster her defenses. She was going to need them if she was going to get through this encounter with the Queen. Niko walked out, trying to stand tall. She would not let the Queen see her frightened. She may have agreed to serve the Queen but that didn't mean she was going to allow her to make her a slave.  
  
Would she be able not to cross that line? Did she have the strength? Time would tell. And maybe, if she was lucky, she could find a shard of glass or a bit of poison that could release her from her oath if she couldn't find any other way out. No, she wouldn't consider that option yet. She couldn't. She had to hold out for a chance to rescue Goose and Daisy. She just hoped it would be soon... If rescuing them would do any good...there was virtually nothing stopping the Queen from invading that frontier world. She told herself, You are a Galaxy Ranger. You can and will find a way out of this mess.  
  
You are no Ranger. You are a traitor. You willingly agreed to serve the enemy... to study her ways and become her loyal servant. Accept that you gave your word.  
  
"Get out of my mind!" Niko growled, knowing that it was the Queen. Or was it? She looked skyward. I'm sorry, Ariel, she thought. I've betrayed you and I've betrayed my people.  
  
The Queen smiled as she heard Niko's thoughts. Niko was giving her all the ammunition she needed to crack through her shields.  
  
Niko walked out of the lavatory and into the hallway. She didn't get far before seeing a Slaverlord. She stopped short as she saw the face in the crystal. Oh gods.... it was Goose! The Queen had made him a Slaverlord. Was a rescue already too late, she wondered.  
  
"Shane!" she gasped involuntarily. You bitch, Niko thought, feeling a surge of rage override her self-disgust and fear. She knew she needed to create a retreat within her mind. Somewhere she could sort things out.  
  
The Queen straightened with a start at the surge of emotion from Niko. Such emotion. Ah, yes. Unexpected...but useful Much more interesting than those pitiful Gherkins. And at this rate, tormenting little Niko would be even more of a pleasure than anything she had done to that captain... She sent a signal to her Slaverlord to bring Niko to her. The lessons should begin immediately, she decided. While her new student was still off-balance. What to teach her first? Then, she decided, what to do. The perfect lesson would be to make her witness the transformation of that Daisy O'Mega creature.... She told her guards what she wanted, and they bowed in acknowledgment of her orders before going off to carry them out.  
  
The Slaverlord approached with Niko at its side.  
  
"My dear Niko, feeling better?" the Queen asked.  
  
Niko said nothing. She rested a hand against her waist, covering her badge. She wanted to save her implant charge until she needed it. She wasn't sure she could keep the Queen out of her mind, even with her implant at full charge if the Queen forced the issue, but she had to try.  
  
The Queen seemed to ignore Niko as she watched the technicians prepare the Psychochamber. Niko stood uneasily at the foot of he throne. She noticed the activity surrounding the Psychochamber and wondered what the Queen had planned. Certainly it wasn't to put her in the Psychochamber, was it? Why did the Queen say that she wanted her as a student, if she was only going to put her in the Psychochamber? She hardly dared to look at the Slaverlord next to her. She wanted so much to grab from the Slaverlord the Psychocrystal that contained Shane's life-force, but the time wasn't right. She silently prayed for the strength to hold out until Doc and Zach could arrive with back-up.  
  
The Queen was feeling pleased with herself. Her new student didn't know that she was broadcasting her thoughts. It was a lingering side-effect of the truth-serum she had used on Niko-- it boosted the subject's latent telepathy. Without even having to expend conscious energy, the Queen was able to listen in on her pupil's thoughts. Once she had been properly trained, her new student would make an excellent servant.  
  
Then, the guards returned half-carrying, half-dragging, a semi-conscious Daisy O'Mega. Her face was still bruised along the jaw-line on one side, and she appeared to be drugged.  
  
Niko couldn't quite surpress the gasp of surprise that escaped when she recognized her, "Daisy O'Mega?!"  
  
Hearing her name said, Daisy shook off the last of the cobwebs in her head. She straightened up and was just as surprised to see Niko, "Galaxy Ranger Niko-- Didn't think I'd see you here..."  
  
Niko didn't know what to say. There was a flood of questions she wanted to ask and not all of them had to do with the Queen's plans. She started to move forward, but the Slaverlord at her side put a restraining hand on her shoulder, preventing her from moving any closer. She threw a despairing look over her shoulder at the Slaverlord bearing Shane's Psychocrystal.  
  
The Queen motioned to Daisy's guards, "Place her in the Psychochamber."  
  
As the guards pushed Daisy past Niko, she could see Niko's expression and then the reason for it as she saw the face in the Slaverlord's crystal. It was Shane's. Daisy shook her head in denial and cursed under her breath at the Queen.  
  
The Queen spoke, "Come, Niko, it's time for your first lesson."  
  
Niko moved slowly with dread. She knew what was coming now, the Queen was going to make her witness Daisy's transformation into a Slaverlord.  
  
"Remember Niko, you did agree to serve me and become my student."  
  
Daisy looked up and could hear as the guards put her in the Psychochamber, Niko answer, "Yes, Your Majesty." But, Niko had her back to Daisy at this point, and Daisy couldn't see the rebellious expression on her face. She was too dazed to put up much of a fight when the guards shoved her into the glass chamber and attached electrodes to her chest and temples. The double shock of seeing a Slaverlord with Shane's Psychocrystal and Niko's apparent willing servitude to the Queen of the Crown depleted what little fight she had left in her and she leaned dispiritedly against the glass of the Psychochamber.  
  
After the guards had finished with Daisy, the Queen shifted her attention back to Niko, who still had her back turned to the Psychochamber. "Turn around my dear. Watch and learn what happens to those who cross me."  
  
"No," Niko said.  
  
"What was that you said, child?" the Queen asked.  
  
"I said, no," Niko answered.  
  
"Watch and learn, Niko," the Queen repeated.  
  
"No, Your Majesty," Niko said, placing a hand over her badge, ready to activate her implant, which would boost her psi-powers and hopefully give her the strength to keep the Queen out of her mind.  
  
"You will watch and learn, Niko," the Queen said ominously.  
  
Then, before Niko even had a chance to breathe, to activate her implant, the Queen sent a lance of sheer fire into her mind. With a cry of pain, Niko fell to her knees, both hands on either side of her head.  
  
The Queen sent the spike deeper into Niko's mind and said, "Watch, Niko and learn."  
  
Niko was bent forward in pain. She couldn't think, much less move to activate her implant, which might have given her the strength needed to resist the Queen's attack on her mind.  
  
The Queen was more than pleased with all the delicious information she was gleaning out of Niko's mind, via the pain spike. All sorts of interesting emotions were tied to that human Daisy O'Mega... She decided that that would be the tool to use in this lesson. She lessened the intensity of the pain spike and instead began to pry away on the emotional knot in Niko's mind. She picked out the thread of jealousy from the knot and said, via telepathy, "Come now, Niko my dear and watch the elimination of the rival for your fellow Ranger's attentions."  
  
"No," Niko answered, but this time the denial was less heated.  
  
The Queen leaned back in her throne, she could feel the wall of Niko's resistance starting to tremble. She was making progress here. Simultaneously, she drove the pain spike deep into Niko's mind again, at the same time, pulling heavily on the thread of jealousy. "Turn around, Niko and watch," she said.  
  
"No, I can't," Niko sobbed, hands clutched to either side of her head. The pain was so intense.  
  
The Queen could feel the cracks that were beginning to form and widen in Niko's resistance. She said, "Niko, here; here is the rival for your beloved's attentions."  
  
Niko no longer felt the pain of the mental spike as much as she was beginning to feel something much darker and much more sinister-- an extreme jealousy of Daisy. She didn't recognize the voice that answered the Queen, "Yes."  
  
The Queen again pulled on the thread of jealousy, "Turn around and watch, child."  
  
"N- no," Niko stammered. It was getting harder to resist. She suddenly felt a blinding, raging jealousy towards Daisy. She fought to push that dark and dangerous feeling back. She didn't feel that way towards Daisy... or did she? She couldn't tell anymore what was real.  
  
The Queen pulled even harder on the thread of jealousy in Niko's mind. Her resistance was crumbling. "Niko, child." She placed a hand under Niko's chin and tilted her head up so she was forced to look her in the eye. "Turn around and watch."  
  
"N- no... Y-yessss..." Niko was torn. She was lost in a maelstrom of emotions. She felt hands under her arms, lifting her up.  
  
The Queen's smile sent shivers down Niko's spine. Whether of anticipation or apprehension, she couldn't tell anymore.  
  
"Turn around Niko, and watch."  
  
"Yes..." Niko answered slowly. She thought she had said no? She felt a heady sense of anticipation that just didn't feel right. The hands on her arms kept her upright and helped her turn around so she was facing the Psychochamber.  
  
In the Psychochamber, Daisy O'Mega wondered what the Queen was waiting for. Why hadn't she told her guards to throw the switch to go ahead and drain her life-force into a Psychocrystal, she puzzled. Then, Daisy noticed the scene taking place between Niko and the Queen with a distant, puzzled expression on her face. She acts like the Queen's torturing her, though there's not so much as a hand lain on her...What was happening up there? She couldn't hear much of the conversation except the words jealousy and rival. She wasn't expecting help from Niko but still...Why would a Ranger be jealous? Why would the lady Ranger be so jealous as to serve that vicious Queen, albeit not entirely of her free will?  
  
This may be part of the process, to prolong the waiting, to stretch out the subject's torment and anguish to make a stronger Slaverlord for all she knew. Her eyes settled on the Slaverlord holding Niko back. Daisy's stomach did a flip-flop. Now, she was frightened. Her heart pounded and she struggled to get to her feet, so that she could pull off the electrodes. Then, she looked up again and saw that Niko was once again back on her feet and this time facing her. Daisy's breath caught in her throat as she saw Niko's twisted expression. Niko's face seemed frozen between jealous rage and desperate pity.  
  
The Queen waved to her guards to begin the transformation.  
  
Daisy's eyes caught on the Slaverlord and realized...Jealous. If she was sweet on Shane, that might explain... But the red light and the awful ripping pain cut off any further coherent thought. A deep, wrenching scream was torn from her throat as her life-force was forcibly drained from her.  
  
On the dais, the Queen's expression of extreme pleasure was eerily echoed on Niko's face. But, the difference was that Niko had tears running freely down her cheeks. Unknown to Daisy, Niko had her own battle. Instead of being jailed by a red crystal, her mind was jailed by the iron of her thoughts and emotions, twisted and fashioned into bars by her captor...her master. This prison was just as painful.  
  
Then, Daisy collapsed in a heap, as her life-force was pulled into a Psychocrystal.  
  
The red Psychocrystal floated away from the chamber and white robes folded around it, creating another Slaverlord, the Daisy-Slaverlord then floated up to the dais next to Niko.  
  
On the dais, Niko would have fallen back to her knees, had it not been for the Goose-Slaverlord holding her up. Lesson one was over, would lesson two be any easier?  
  
"You do realize, my little Niko," the Queen said. "That your love and your rival are now joined forever. Your friends will not come to help you...the only thing you have left, the only one you can trust now, is me."  
  
She got up from the throne and brushed away some of Niko's tears, "But you can trust me and you will trust me."  
  
Niko shuddered. She didn't know if she could survive another one of the Queen's lessons.  
  
* * * *  
  
Outside the Psychocrypt in the asteroid belt Ranger-One was limping back out of the asteroid field, heading for League space.  
  
"Hyperdrive damaged... weapons out... power on backups...Shit!" Doc banged on a console, reading the damage report sent up by GeeVee, who didn't even have enough power to manifest the green eyeball interface.  
  
"Can we even make it back to League space?" Zach asked, worriedly.  
  
"I can manage to put this thing together with chewing gum and barbed wire. We can limp back to the League. Anything past that would be a joke."  
  
"Well, do what you can, Doc. We can't stay here, and we can't leave Niko in the Queen's hands."  
  
"I know," he said. "But we are dead meat on a stick if we even try to go back there without some extensive repairs. I don't know about you, Zachary but I don't want to use up my health insurance quite yet."  
  
He took a look at Zach's face and sighed, "I'll get right on it."  
  
Zach let out a deep sigh of resignation before getting up to go help Doc. While not a religious man, he offered a small prayer up for luck. They'd need all the luck available and while he prayed for luck, he also said a prayer, with all his heart, for the three humans trapped in that graveyard.  
  
Doc was working on a patch of whatever was left of the hyperdrive, stringing wires and circuitry together and periodically cursing and breaking out a fire extinguisher to stop the small fires cropping up.  
  
Zach stood by and handed him tools when he called out for them. There wasn't enough room for two people to work in the engine space and he didn't have enough technical skill to be working on them. Doc had his tweakers working with him, helping to patch the circuits and reroute. Zach noticed that it was taking a strain on him.  
  
"Join the Galaxy Rangers and see the Galaxy," muttered Doc under his breath.  
  
Zach could only nod in wry agreement.  
  
It was some time later that Doc emerged from the engines, his once-pristine uniform now covered in soot, grime and grease.  
  
His expression was doubtful and Zach asked, "How are the engines? Can we make the jump to lightspeed?"  
  
"That's the best I can do," he said tiredly. "I'm pulling a lot of power from my implant. All five tweakers at once takes a lot. But, we can activate the hyperdrive long enough to get to the border - provided we don't need life support afterwards. And no fancy flying, otherwise we'll lose what repairs I did."  
  
Zach winced, "That bad?"  
  
"'Fraid so and don't let me fall asleep... I need to be conscious for the tweakers to work. Pathfinder and Tripwire are the only thing keeping us breathing."  
  
Zach nodded, "Right." That meant no sleep for him as well.  
  
"Come on, let's get going. I can't hold out for forever." Doc said as he collapsed hard in the co-pilot's seat with a groan. "I've got the nav computers set for the shortest run to the League border."  
  
"Right. Let's go then." Zach said, sitting down in the pilot's seat and punching buttons to make the jump.  
  
They started off to League space, wondering how or if they were going to be able to get back.  
  
  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	8. Chapter VIII Stone walls do not a priso...

Chapter VIII "Poets, priests and politicians  
  
Have words to thank for their positions  
  
Words that scream for your submission  
  
And no one's jamming their transmission  
  
'Cos when their eloquence escapes you  
  
Their logic ties you up and rapes you...  
  
De do do do De da da da, The Police  
  
It was a beautiful cage but a cage nonetheless. The Queen's guards escorted Niko to a lavish bedroom. Alien artwork decorated the walls and surrounded a large fireplace where a real fire burned away. The guards took their post solemnly by the door.  
  
The Queen gestured around the room. "Your chambers, my dear. How do you like them?" She was also accompanied by Goose's Slaverlord. She seemed to gain evil delight in making sure that that Slaverlord was near her at all times.  
  
Niko wearily replied, "A prison is still a prison, Your Majesty. However well it is disguised."  
  
The Queen glowered at her. "Don't be ungrateful, Niko. I decorated this room for you. I know about your homeworld. The artwork is native to Xanadu itself..."  
  
Niko shuddered. The Queen was right. She didn't want to notice that detail but how could the Queen have known? What did she know of Xanadu?  
  
"Consider this to be your sanctuary, Niko. Your new home. I will, of course, provide for you within reason."  
  
Niko looked forlornly at Shane's Slaverlord. Oh, if only she could have those days on Granna back. If she could have said good-bye again.  
  
"Don't be tiresome, my dear and attempt to rescue any of the Slaverlords. You won't do them or yourself any favors."  
  
Niko tried not to let her surprise show. How did the Queen know what she was thinking?  
  
The Queen said, "Nothing you think is secret from me, my dear. Now, I want to hear you promise that you won't try to rescue them. I want your word." The Queen's hand took her chin in what appeared to be a gentle manner but the ice-cold, razor-sharp nails dug into Niko's chin.  
  
Niko tried to look away but couldn't escape the Queen's powerful gaze. Her ruby eyes paralyzed Niko. She couldn't escape the grip... She was aware now that she was shaking.  
  
"Promise me," the Queen said almost sweetly. "Promise me like you promised your loyalty."  
  
Niko tried to resist the probe she felt reaching into her mind. She tried to look at the Slaverlord just inches away but her eyes wouldn't move from the Queen's gaze. She was prey and the Queen was enjoying being the predator. She flailed about in her mind, trying to struggle, but her attempts at resistance only met with more of the Queen's calm determination.  
  
The Queen gripped Niko's chin and said, "Don't struggle. You'll only hurt yourself."  
  
Niko managed to put a hand on her badge to activate her implant.  
  
The Queen reached out and snatched the badge away out of her trembling grip. She didn't want Niko activating her implant and undoing all the progress she had made with her so far. "None of this, my dear. Not right now. It will only remind you of them... Now, promise me like you promised your loyalty."  
  
Niko was battered by strange emotions, feelings and images that were flooding into her mind. She saw the ruined heap that had once been Mel; Brutus and Voyager carrying their riders further and further from her... She saw Ranger-One leaving the Crown base, leaving her behind as she watched on the viewer. Niko gasped and tried to retreat long enough from the Queen's presence to shield her mind, to block out all the images and emotions she was being flooded with.  
  
But, the Queen allowed her no quarter, and Niko tried to resist. "They left you behind, child. They don't care about you. Not as much as I do...Trust me, Niko. Think about them. They ran away from you when you needed them the most."  
  
"No! You're lying! They'll be back for me," Niko protested.  
  
More inky thoughts were twining around her memories, distorting their meaning, taking them out of context... painting an ugly picture.  
  
"Yes, Niko, they deserted you... You were misguided. I know how well Captain Foxx can manipulate others. He manipulated you, poor dear, but I'm here. I'm sorry you had to learn about his cowardly nature the hard way. They don't care for you. Not as much as I do...Trust me, Niko. I want you to trust me..."  
  
Niko's legs were giving out from under her. She tried to look away, but the lock the Queen had on her was too strong. Her voice was only the faintest of sounds as she said, "Zach isn't a coward. Neither is Doc and neither is..." her voice choked.  
  
"They abandoned him, too, dear," she said. "Remember? They abandoned you both. Trust me, Niko, I will never desert you."  
  
"I trus..." realizing that this was her own voice speaking, Niko pushed her mind again to the surface in an attempt to clear her thoughts. Had she almost given in?!  
  
"Now, tell me you trust me. Just three simple words. Just say it. Say you trust me. You almost said it...it's not so hard to say, my dear. Just say it and you can rest."  
  
"No..." it was barely a whisper.  
  
The Queen's fingers dug painfully into Niko's jaw.  
  
"I...." Niko gasped and fought to clear her mind. She couldn't give in. "I..." her voice choked on the words, as another round of twisted imagery flooded her. "trus..."  
  
"Niko, you would save yourself so much trouble if you would just give in and say those three little words." the Queen said. "You can be tiresome, Niko, or you can cooperate." She continued as she flooded Niko's mind with more twisted and perverted memories.  
  
Niko was overwhelmed. She couldn't tell if they were real or false anymore. She was so tired....  
  
They had run away...they had left her here...but they didn't have a choice, or did they?  
  
"Say it!!" The Queen called out again placing the full force of her will upon the mind of the young woman before her. "Say those three little words, Niko, and I will let you rest."  
  
In that moment, that split-second instant of doubt, the Queen seized her chance. "Yes, see what I want you to see..."  
  
Niko was lost.... She swallowed. She was now shaking, breaking out into a cold sweat. She could see nothing but those eyes, hear nothing but that voice.  
  
"I...trust...you..." she choked out. "I trust you, Mistress..."  
  
The icy fingernails suddenly released their grip and Niko fell to the floor, panting.  
  
"Say it again, one last time, child," the Queen smiled triumphantly.  
  
Niko looked up. "I trust you, Mistress," she said in a mechanical voice.  
  
"Very good, my dear, very good. Now, wasn't there something else you wanted to tell me? Something you wanted to promise me?"  
  
Niko struggled to form the words, "I... promise..."  
  
"What do you promise me?" The Queen asked.  
  
"I... promise... you, Mistress... n-not... to... free... any... of the... Slaverlords." The words came from her against her will, but she couldn't stop them.  
  
The Queen knelt down and gently brushed a damp strand of red hair out of Niko's eyes. "That wasn't so bad, was it, Niko?"  
  
Niko didn't say a word. She just didn't have the strength anymore. Tears still ran freely from her eyes and she shuddered at the icy touch of the Queen's hands upon her cheeks.  
  
"Your next set of lessons will start in the morning. Now, it's time for you to rest."  
  
"Yes, Mistress," Niko said in the same tone as before.  
  
The Queen gestured to the Slaverlord, and they walked out the door, letting it slide shut behind them.  
  
Niko knelt on the floor where she was dazed. Eventually, she got up off the floor and climbed into the bed, exhausted. She pulled the blankets over her trembling body, unable to stop the tears running out of her eyes as she pulled the sheets over herself and curled up into a tight ball, shuddering and feeling wretched.  
  
* * * *  
  
As Ranger-One limped back to League Space, Doc noticed that Zach's hands were clenched around the piloting stick and that his face had gone completely ashen, almost as if a statue was flying the ship.  
  
What was left of the sensors indicated a League space station ahead. Zach seemed to be paying no attention as he continued to move little or even notice anything.  
  
"Captain, There's a league space station ahead. We should port there," Doc said quietly.  
  
Zach didn't respond for a minute. But it seemed to shake him a bit from his catatonia. "Right, Doc," he answered finally. He brought the battered hulk around and tried to steer close to the space station, controls still in a deathgrip.  
  
Doc got on the radio and said, "League Space Station, this is Ranger-One requesting permission to dock."  
  
"Ranger-One?" said the technician at the controls. "Yeah, Commander Walsh is looking for you."  
  
"Uh-oh," Doc said under his breath.  
  
Doc and Zach glanced once at each other... they knew what was coming.  
  
"Just clear us for landing, tower," Doc said, exasperation giving an edge to his voice.  
  
Zachary struggled with the controls but was able to bring the ship around somewhat smoothly.  
  
"We failed, Doc... Now, Niko's going to pay for it."  
  
Doc sighed. "We'll get her back, Zach."  
  
"Before or after we have to battle her Slaverlord?"  
  
"I honestly don't know, Captain. But, we will get Niko and Goose out of the Queen's clutches." Doc tried to sound positive.  
  
Then, the two Rangers said nothing more as the station's tractor beam locked on to the battered ship and brought it in to the docking bay. Zach and Doc shut down the engines and secured the ship. They slowly walked out of the ship, not knowing quite what to expect. They were met by a security detail headed up by the security chief.  
  
"Captain Foxx, Ranger Hartford? Come with me, please."  
  
The two Rangers were escorted out of the docking bay and straight to the brig.  
  
Doc collapsed on a bunk, his energy drained from keeping all of his tweakers going at the same time. He tried to think of something witty to say but only grumbled, "To hell with it," and passed out on the bunk.  
  
In what seemed a short time, the security chief reappeared, waking them.  
  
"Captain Foxx? Ranger Hartford? Commander Walsh's shuttle has just arrived."  
  
Doc struggled awake and quipped, "Oh good, I just hate prolonging these things."  
  
Zach was still fairly pale, Doc noticed. He wondered if his captain had gotten any sleep since they arrived.  
  
The security chief gave Doc a quieting look but said nothing.  
  
"How long was I out?" he asked Zachary.  
  
"Thirteen hours," was the curt reply.  
  
Doc shook his head, he still felt that it wasn't enough, but it would have to do for now.  
  
The security chief led them to an office and ushered them inside. Commander Walsh stood in front of the desk frowning.  
  
They walked into an office where the station commander, a gray-haired iron bar of a woman, stood next to Commander Walsh himself. Doc was about to make a short quip about rudeness on the security chief's part but one look at Walsh's face and it died on his lips.  
  
"Uh-oh," Doc muttered under his breath.  
  
Zach straightened up and saluted Commander Walsh and the station commander. He spoke up first, his gravelly voice quiet, yet clear. "Sir, I take full responsibility for this. Hartford was following my orders and plans for this..."  
  
"But, Captain!" Doc protested. "What I did at BETA was hardly following orders!!"  
  
Commander Walsh cut the two Rangers off. "I am sure that Ranger Niko also willingly went along with this crazy idea of yours, Captain Foxx. Just what in the Sam Hill did you hope to accomplish?"  
  
"Rescuing Goose and Miss O'Mega, Commander," Zach answered. "And, preventing the Queen from making more human Slaverlords - any more human Slaverlords... Sir, the Psychocrypt is not a fate I'd wish on anyone." He had spent a short period of time in it, and knew what it did to a person. His wife, Eliza, was still a prisoner of the Queen... her body was in stasis at the Longshot Research Facility, while the Queen held on tightly to the first Psychocrystal she had made from a human.  
  
"And, where is Ranger Niko, Captain Foxx?" the station commander asked.  
  
"Captured, sir." Zachary was obviously ashamed. "I'd walk into the Psychocrypt myself if it would bring them back," whispered Zachary. The look on his face was agony to the eyes but Doc knew that anything he read on the captain's face was just the tip of the iceberg.  
  
Walsh drew in a deep breath. He had been afraid of that.... Now the Queen had two of his best Rangers. He paced the room back and forth struggling with himself. "I ought to throw you in the brig and leave you two to rot after your stunt," he blustered.  
  
"Do what you have to, Commander," Zachary said, resigned.  
  
"You disobeyed orders, put BETA through all sorts of hell and lost another Ranger.. for that you should be arrested!" Walsh said.  
  
Doc exchanged looks with Zachary "But...?" he questioned.  
  
"But..." he said, glaring at Doc "We have an emergency on our hands, so instead you are both being placed on probation. I will decide later what disciplinary measures to take if we make it through the coming battle with the Queen's armada."  
  
"What?!" Doc said both relieved and surprised.  
  
Zachary seemed not to notice.  
  
"The Crown fleet has been massing near the Third Quadrant border and I need you there. But don't think you are getting off on this one," Walsh said, still looking at Doc. "As soon as this is over there will be a hearing. Understand??"  
  
Both Rangers nodded. "Yes, sir."  
  
Doc asked, "Do we know which planet is her target, Commander?"  
  
"We don't know for certain but we believe that Granna is her intended target because it has a high human population and is relatively undefended."  
  
Zachary nodded. "What are our orders, sir?"  
  
"For now, I'm assigning you two to the Laredo. I need the two of you to be watching the Crown fleet closely," Walsh stressed, "without being detected. You'll be part of the Laredo's Interceptor crew. They'll be making runs near the border and you two are going to be in charge of the scouts."  
  
He paused and said, "And if you two pull any more stunts like what you did at BETA Mountain, then you will be spending a long, long time in the brig."  
  
"Why what happened at BETA?" Doc said trying to lighten the tenseness in the room. It didn't work.  
  
"Do I make myself clear, Ranger Hartford?" Commander Walsh asked.  
  
Both acknowledged the statement. Walsh looked them over. Somehow, he got the feeling that any punishment he gave them was nothing compared to he hell they were already putting themselves through. "Do you feel you=92re up to this?" he asked his voice and face softening a little.  
  
Doc took a moment to answer, "Yes, sir, I'm up to this."  
  
"Commander, any chance I have to fight the Crown I'm up to," Zach said, staring Walsh in the eye.  
  
"The Laredo will be here tomorrow," Walsh said. "In the meantime, you'll be taken to quarters and confined there until it arrives. Dismissed."  
  
* * * *  
  
Niko stood in the large room. The Queen stood by her side. There were no cameras here. No guards. She had no idea where she was, nor did she know what she was doing there... The place was richly decorated. The Queen didn't even look the same.  
  
She wasn't wearing her formal robes of office, opting for a heavy purple robe. The headdress was gone, revealing close-cropped dark hair, diving over to silver.  
  
"This," said the Queen. "Is my private study. Feel free to look at the books."  
  
Niko knew she should be taking note of this but her head was so foggy... She walked into the room slowly. The place was dimly lit and not by electrical means, except for an eerie blood red glow coming from the center of one of the tall Romanesque column in the center of the room. Something about the column called to her and she slowly walked to the center of the room to look at the forcefield but the Queen guided her away.  
  
"There is nothing in there for you. Now, it is time for you to read..."  
  
"Yes, Mistress." Niko was led away from the column and sat at a large ebony desk. She kept looking backwards at the column. The Queen grumbled a curse and touched Niko's temple. The curiosity about the column vanished and Niko turned her attention to the books on the desk. Real leather and vellum. She was surprised by that.  
  
"Like them?" the Queen asked. "They're my greatest treasure. A millennia of observations and lore. I thought a scholar like yourself would be interested."  
  
The writing was a strange, spidery script that seemed to flow right off the page and was hard to focus on. But, somehow, she could read the script and what it said....  
  
"The power and life force of the weak is what the strong have always used to survive. Just as a predator eats prey to survive, so must strong beings feed on the weaker beings to ensure their survival."  
  
"You are powerful, Niko." She could hear the Queen's whisper at her neck. "That is why I watched you. That is why I waited for this..."  
  
Niko whipped around, but she couldn't see the Queen.  
  
She knew she should be disgusted by this writing, by what it was saying, by what the Queen was saying to her. But, somehow, she wasn't. She was almost excited by it...The books caught her attention. They seemed to pull her into the page. She read page after page allowing the words to spill over into her mind.  
  
"The weaker beings serve only one purpose - to nourish the strong," the book continued. It gave examples of wars, what atrocities the victors did to the vanquished.  
  
The words burned into her mind. The book told tales of a dozen conquered worlds... Power was blood. Power was conquest and preying.  
  
So she turned another page...  
  
"The Prey, as much as they claim to resist, actually are on many levels willing to submit themselves to a power higher than themselves. All war and resistance is a sacrifice by the weak to the strong."  
  
The Queen stood back and watched Niko absorb the text in the books.  
  
"Prey claim to be interested in peace and justice... the pursuit of power is the ultimate goal. The art of conquest being the highest attainable goal of a sentient being. Civilizations claiming to be peaceful eventually choke on dust and serve as the food for the empires of those who realize the ultimate perfection..."  
  
The more she read, the more she wanted to read.... Something in the text was pulling her in...  
  
They were weak, she thought, her mood turning black and evil. They left me behind, the cowards...soon, they will be conquered...  
  
The conditioning was working.  
  
She lost herself in the scrawled literature, as understanding and something deeper over came her... greed.  
  
A small voice spoke up from deep inside and said, "Think, Niko. Were they really evil? After all, had not Ariel been like a mother to you?"  
  
Niko shivered and looked up.  
  
"Read, Niko," purred the Queen. "After all, it's only knowledge..."  
  
What was she doing here and where was here? The fog seemed to lift from her mind for a moment and she found her attention drawn back to the column in the center of the room. Then, she heard a thought-trace that was not her own as she looked back at that glowing column again.  
  
These damn Rangers and their consciences.... They were so stubborn! The words, they were the Queen's! She could almost hear the Queen's frown in the thought voice.  
  
The Queen had her shields lowered ever so slightly to work on Niko's conditioning. She looked over to the center of the room, towards the column that emanated the red glow. She'd deal with the source of the glow, that special Psychocrystal later after she had taken care of Niko. She reached out again and touched Niko's temple, bringing her attention back to the tome in front of her.  
  
Niko turned back to the volume before her, that was the power the Queen offered and a way for... revenge! Destruction... yes, she had used her powers to destroy...  
  
The little voice spoke up again, "Think, Niko. Think. Is this really what you want to do??"  
  
"And how did it feel to destroy, dear? Remember my gun on Wollchat? And those android guards... How did it feel to see them destroyed?" the Queen prodded.  
  
Niko looked at the column in the center of the room again, with a confused expression on her face.  
  
"There is nothing there for you. That is a power I have earned. Soon, Niko, soon. You will have your own power... A fleet of ships, a planet to rule. Life-forces to feed on..." the Queen said, trying to lure Niko's attention back to the tome once more.  
  
"Yes..." Niko answered slowly, looking once more at the tome.  
  
"You are starting to see, aren't you?"  
  
The words started blurring before her eyes as she tried to sort through the cloudy images in her mind. "The strong shall overcome the weak and make them their slaves..." the book read.  
  
"Yes, power which you can manipulate and use to do what must be done, my dear," the Queen purred.  
  
"How do I become strong?" Niko asked.  
  
"You must destroy all that would make you weak," the Queen said cryptically.  
  
A quick flash of unkempt blond hair appeared in Niko's mind and just as quickly was gone.  
  
"Destroy," Niko hissed. "Yes, destroy those bloody cowards... You saved me." She blinked. "Why? Why did you save me? I was weak."  
  
"Because, I care about you, my dear. Because I knew you could be so strong," the Queen purred.  
  
"Yet, you saved me?" She blinked and questioned again, "Why? Why did= you save me? I was weak."  
  
"That is of no matter," barked the Queen. "I had my reasons, girl. You aren't weak anymore. You were like raw ore. I am purifying you. You will be so strong," the Queen soothed. "A powerful ally, to share in the destruction of those... cowards."  
  
"The purity of power..." the book read.  
  
"And you will destroy those who abandoned you. The ones who weakened you..." the Queen said hypnotically.  
  
"They weakened me," Niko said bitterly, viciously.  
  
"Yes, child, they weakened you... They deluded you by turning you into one of them: a coward, a weakling. You are more powerful than they are. You can crush their minds. You will crush their minds..."  
  
Niko shivered in delight, "Yes, Mistress.... crush their minds..."  
  
"You will crush their minds..." the Queen repeated. "I destroyed Daisy O'Mega for your benefit."  
  
"She was weak. The weak provide power for the strong..." Niko said.  
  
The Queen abruptly changed. "Now, what about Captain Foxx and Dr. Hartford? They are, after all, your friends."  
  
Niko stood up and stared at the Queen icily. "Don't talk to me about them. I'd just as soon they didn't exist!" she shouted. "They are cowards!"  
  
"I can," the Queen, suggested, "take their influence away. You never have to acknowledge their existence again."  
  
Niko looked excitedly to the Queen, "You can, Mistress?"  
  
She closed her eyes. A face, a voice...a man in black...No! She wasn't going to have any weakness! She viciously suppressed the memory, focusing on rage.  
  
"He betrayed you too, my dear," the Queen said.  
  
A moment, for a moment only shock registered on Niko's face. "Betrayed? Who is he, Mistress?"  
  
"One of those weak cowards who betrayed you, my dear." the Queen stated. "One of the those who wished to make you weak, as a matter of fact he worked the hardest at it. He ran right into the arms of so many others... you cared for him but he didn't care for you. And now he is so close, but he will not help you, again he turns away."  
  
Somehow, that didn't seem right, but Niko determinedly pushed the nagging doubts away.  
  
"You will see in time my dear," the Queen said. "Niko, look at me, I care for you. I will keep you strong, only under me will you grow powerful," the Queen whispered.  
  
"They're still in my mind." Niko's voice was a squeak. "I don't want them in my mind, Mistress. They are weakening me. I need to be strong. Am I weak in asking you to help?"  
  
"No, my dear, only in asking my help will you grow stronger," the Queen answered.  
  
Niko straightened. "Help me, then!" she barked.  
  
"Yes, Niko, I will help you.... Open your mind to me..." The Queen staggered back. Every psychic shield surrounding Niko suddenly dropped like a stone. She was right, Niko did have an extremely powerful mind and she was almost caught off-guard by its power. With delight, the Queen took possession of her new pupil. She burned away Niko's memories of the Rangers, all her experiences with them.....  
  
And Niko was welcoming it!  
  
Niko welcomed the Queen fully into her mind. Rejoicing that her Mistress was going to make her strong. Memories burned away, replaced with glorious rage... hate... Power! At first, she welcomed the pain, for one had to endure pain to become strong. Then, the pain intensified and the internal fire that was sweeping her mind, destroying the old memories, seemed to be burning out of control. Her legs buckled and she ended up on the floor on her knees in front of the Queen, who wouldn't break the contact.  
  
"Good, good let yourself roll in the power that fills your mind!" said the Queen with a look of glory and accomplishment on her face.  
  
Xanadu and BETA went up in a glorious pyre. Nothing remained except her Mistress... and, that, for some reason, filled her with remorse. No... remorse was for the weak. Niko burned that away herself. The fire felt like it was burning out of control in her mind, like it was going to escape and consume the rest of her body and soul....  
  
Then, it was over.  
  
The Queen smiled as she raised Niko to her feet, "You have proceeded with great speed. Niko, I am proud of you. No...." she said a moment later, "You will no longer be called Niko. That name has too many of your old, weak associations tied to it. From now on you shall be called, Kraya, Kraya Dal'Jesset."  
  
Niko, Kraya, took a moment to savor the new name, "Kraya Dal'Jesset... Kraya, after the Warlord-Mistress of Bayla... Yes, Mistress, a proud name. It is an honor to be named by and for you."  
  
The Queen watched her try out her new name. Niko, no Kraya, was hers now!  
  
"Kraya," Niko/Kraya played with the sound of her new name.  
  
The Queen didn't bother to hide her rejoicing. A student... an heir... Yes, indeed. Kraya Dal'Jesset.  
  
Student and teacher laughed together.  
  
The Queen motioned to her guards, "Show my new student, Kraya Dal'Jesset, back to her quarters. I'm sure she will want to change into something more appropriate."  
  
* * * *  
  
The next day, the Laredo paused at the BETA space station while en route to the Third Quadrant to pick up Zach and Doc. Along with Commander Walsh, who would be in charge of BETA's forces during the upcoming battle with the Queen's armada.  
  
  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	9. Chapter IX And if I built this fortress...

Chapter IX "And if I have built this fortress around your heart  
  
Encircled you in trenches and barbed wire  
  
Then let me build a bridge  
  
For I cannot fill the chasm  
  
And let me set the battlements on fire."  
  
Fortress Around Your Heart, Sting  
  
Late in the night a few evenings after being "reborn" as Kraya Dal'Jesset, Niko tossed and turned restlessly under the covers of a large, antique style four poster bed. In her richly decorated quarters, Niko, or Kraya Dal'Jesset as she was now known, was not having a good night's sleep. Instead of sleeping peacefully, she was caught in a nightmare not entirely of her own making...  
  
"Niko," a whispered voice called out.  
  
"No! Niko is no more! I am Kraya Dal'Jesset now!" Kraya shouted defiantly as she walked through the mist-shrouded surroundings.  
  
"Niko..." the whispered voice called again.  
  
"Who are you?! Show yourself!" Kraya shouted.  
  
The voice mockingly answered, "Who are you?"  
  
"I am Kraya Dal'Jesset!" she shouted out her answer.  
  
"Are you?" the voice questioned. "Look at yourself," it challenged.  
  
Then, the mists parted and mirrors appeared all around Kraya. But instead of seeing her reflection, Kraya found herself looking at that, that weakling, Niko....  
  
Kraya spun about angrily and rejected it, "No! I deny this!"  
  
"You can't. This is who you are, Kraya," the voice whispered. It was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  
  
"No! Not anymore! Niko is dead!" Kraya yelled, spinning around, looking for the source of the voice.  
  
"You are Niko," the voice stated.  
  
"No, I am Kraya Dal'Jesset!"  
  
"Then, look again, Kraya and tell me what you see..." the voice prompted.  
  
Kraya looked back in the mirror and saw an older version of herself. The version revealed her to be an almost identical copy of the Queen of the Crown. Her long hair was gone, instead, the burnished chestnut hair was cut extremely short, almost a buzz-cut. But, it was seeing the hardened, cruel expression on her face that made her gasp. Her eyes had a deadened look to them, and her mouth was twisted in what appeared to be a permanent frown. She slowly, hesitantly reached out to touch the reflection/projection in the mirror.... and was flooded with such dark and overwhelming emotions.  
  
The Kraya in the mirror was so hate-filled, contemptuous of all life, and so bitter... She enjoyed making others suffer, and making them kneel in surrender at her feet. Kraya/Niko gasped in shock. This was her future? Was she destined to become this angry, bitter and cruel?  
  
"Is this really how you want your life to be, Kraya?" The voice asked, seemingly right next to her. "Why do you want power, Kraya?" was the voice's next question.  
  
"Niko is weak," she said harshly. "She is afraid of her own power, of her own potentials."  
  
"But, we're not talking about Niko here, Kraya," the voice said, "I want to know, why do you want power, Kraya?"  
  
"Why speak of power?" she said contemptuously. "It is only a means to itself."  
  
"Are you certain, Kraya?" the voice asked.  
  
"Very certain," replied Kraya, "It will suit my needs well."  
  
Then, becoming irritated with the bodiless voice's questions she called out, "Who are you? Show yourself, you bloody coward. I'm not afraid of you! Show yourself, so I can show you what power truly is!"  
  
"Very well, then, Kraya," the voice said, and a projection shimmered into place behind Kraya. with a laugh. Kraya/Niko turned around to see a truly hideous face - gaping black eyes, and the tattered garb of a scarecrow. It didn't speak, but as it came closer, its features took on more and more of her own.  
  
Instinctively she took a step back, then held her ground as the creature came closer. "W... what are you?" she asked. Her voice had an edge of nervousness to it.  
  
The voice said again, still disembodied. "He is rotted, and you will become his equal. Is this what you want, Kraya? He almost destroyed Niko."  
  
"No! You're a nightmare! A leftover projection from Niko! You're not real!" Kraya shouted defiantly, but her voice held the slightest tinge of fear in it.  
  
"Reach out for him if you're truly Kraya. He is powerful."  
  
"I'm not," a stray thought betrayed her heated denial.  
  
"You should thank him," the voice whispered. "Or wonder why he was too weak to destroy Niko when he had his chances... he would have, you know. Are you certain, Kraya, that this is what you want?" the voice continued. "Any tinge of doubt could destroy you."  
  
"Why don't you destroy me, then?" she said. "I am weak. The weak must die."  
  
"You aren't weak, you never were," the voice answered softly.  
  
After a long pause it the voice spoke again, "No, Kraya, you must make a choice. Either one way or the other."  
  
"Why should I even listen? Why should I even trust you?" Kraya asked.  
  
"Because you are still Niko, Kraya," the voice answered simply.  
  
Her eyes narrowed at the mention of Niko's name, She was on the verge of refusing when something inside her prompted her to ask, "What choice?"  
  
"Either Niko or Kraya must 'die.' You cannot be both."  
  
"No! I told you, Niko is no more! I am Kraya Dal'Jesset, now!" Kraya answered. "What was the best Niko could have hoped for? You show me what I'll become as Kraya - Absolute power. What of Niko?"  
  
"Are you certain about that, Kraya? Are you certain that you want Niko to be gone forever?"  
  
"All she could hope for is a crystal coffin along with the other humans, or a death defending some other weakling!" The same small nudge once again made her say a moment later, "Show me first."  
  
"Then look once more in the mirror, Kraya," the voice commanded.  
  
She looked, not wanting to see. The image in the mirror was once again of that weakling, Niko. She rode a copper-colored cyberhorse, a white cyberhorse rode next to her.  
  
"Dare you say that this is the fate that waits me!" she snapped, disgusted at the image of what was in the mirror.  
  
"Touch the mirror, Kraya," the voice commanded.  
  
"Why? Why should I do it?! She's a weakling! What can I learn from her?" Kraya demanded.  
  
The scenes flashed by now. An old man and woman looked up gratefully at her, a bandit stunned on the floor.  
  
"Touch the mirror, Kraya," the voice said compellingly.  
  
She reached out for the mirror with great hesitancy. The power lessened, replaced with something softer. She almost wanted to pull her hand back, but something kept her there.  
  
"Learn, Kraya... Learn what you will be giving up if you remain Kraya."  
  
She was the same age as the Kraya future. Her chestnut hair was graying, and elegantly braided. She wore the formal uniform of a Ranger, but it was less form-fitting, and various awards and medals decorated it. Standing next to her was an older blonde-haired man who still had a rakish air about him in an equally decorated uniform, who had eyes only for her.  
  
She slowly realized that as Niko, she wasn't alone. She had friends who cared for her...  
  
The voice said approvingly, "You see, Kraya.... This is what you will be giving up, if you choose to remain Kraya."  
  
An older sandy-haired man wearing the uniform of a Ranger Commander walked in proudly, a picture of a newborn in his hand. She could feel the joy as the older Commander boasted about his newborn granddaughter.  
  
It was like a huge family. The dark rage and power was blocked with light, warmth, and love. Kraya felt cold, but as Niko, she didn't have to fear that.  
  
"Do you want to be cold for the rest of your life, Kraya?" the voice asked. "Do you want to be alone?"  
  
Niko could have things that Kraya never could.... joy, happiness, love...  
  
"Why show me what is impossible to have?" she said.  
  
"Who do you want to be, Kraya? Niko or Kraya?" the voice asked, "Warmth and joy, or cold and bitter?"  
  
"No," she whispered, her voice cracking.  
  
Just then, the Queen's programming of Kraya asserted itself again and she raised her head and said, "No! Niko is weak! I refuse to be weak like that!"  
  
"What made Niko weak, Kraya? It's not being weak, Kraya, it's what you wanted: power. This is just a power of a different type."  
  
Niko/Kraya closed her eyes and a tear slid down her cheek. Her voice was wavering as she answered, "They left me. I cared for them... I did what I had to do to save them... Niko couldn't save them, but Kraya has."  
  
"Look Kraya, look at what the Queen has done..." the voice pleaded.  
  
"She fell to the Queen, my mistress. She didn't have the strength to fight..." she mumbled the words that had been burned into her by the Queen.  
  
"Yes," the voice answered full of sorrow, "Niko did fall to the Queen, but only to save those she cared for. Look and see who she chose to fight for."  
  
The projections in the mirrors changed She stood up to the scarecrow, shooting him before he was able to kill her friend. She stood with her team fighting off Crown Agents and rescuing almost a hundred humans from the clutches of the Queen. She saw an elderly, alien couple look up at her with gratitude after she cuffed the bandit trying to take their wedding jewels.  
  
"Are these the acts of a weakling?" the voice questioned softly. "This is who Niko chose to fight for, Kraya."  
  
Making contact with an alien race and whistling in a celebration of good wishes... helping to defeat an evil baron from destroying his homeworld. Saving the last of a species so that they might live again... Dangerous and dirty work, but the rewards at the end were beautiful.  
  
The mirrors disappeared, and were replaced by two crystal coffins. She looked down at the crystal. One face - hers.  
  
"You can revive only one," the voice whispered. "Choose wisely."  
  
Two coffins of ruby crystal. Two women with closed eyes, identical in face and body. The difference was noted by what they wore. Kraya wore the finery of the Queen. Niko wore the uniform of a Ranger Commander. A single Psychocrystal throbbed in Kraya/Niko's hand.  
  
Kraya/Niko stalled. "Why? Why should I do this? You have to tell me who you are!" She shouted, some of the Kraya anger taking over again.  
  
"Who I am, or will be depends on you." the voice was now clear, no longer echoing. Definitely a young man. Kraya/Niko knew that voice...  
  
"Who are you?" Kraya asked.  
  
She shivered reflectively, as two forms materialized, one standing behind each coffin. One was a rakish blonde man dressed in a Ranger uniform, and the other was a Slaverlord. The man in the Ranger uniform stood behind the coffin of Niko, while the Slaverlord stood behind the coffin of Kraya.  
  
"Niko, come on, you know who I am. You are better then this!" He urged, with somewhat of a cocky note in his voice.  
  
"Shane," she whispered. Her voice choked.  
  
"It's time, Niko. Time to make your choice," Shane urged, serious now.  
  
"If Kraya exists, I will only be more power for the Queen," the Slaverlord answered. "Power is beautiful," the Slaverlord continued. "I am one of millions Kraya Dal'Jesset will command."  
  
"Or," Shane said. "You can live as an equal."  
  
"Oh gods...." Kraya/Niko said forlornly.  
  
"I know you don't want to be Kraya, Niko," the image of Goose standing behind the crystal coffin of the older Niko urged.  
  
Niko stared at the Slaverlord wondering how something like that could ever have such a hold over her.  
  
The Slaverlord tried again to tempt her with power and said, "Remember the power you felt when I was created, remember how it felt..."  
  
Niko staggered back, the power surged through her. Pure and sublime, but cold... Somehow, that seemed less... enjoyable...  
  
She shivered... this wasn't what she wanted... It was cold, too cold, and it made her heart ache for warmth...  
  
Kraya/Niko walked over to the coffin and joined the crystals. As the blue light flashed over the Ranger, the Queen's servant was turned to dust. Niko felt an incredible weight lift from her shoulders. She felt like she was finally able to stand straight and tall again.  
  
When Niko looked up, she felt oddly empty. She was alone again, and it was so cold around her. She cried out with loss. Had she been lied to?  
  
"Shane," she called out. "Where are you?"  
  
"Still trapped," he said in a faint voice.  
  
But, she no longer felt cold inside.  
  
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she held on to the memory of his voice however faint. "Oh Shane, what have I done?" she said to herself quietly.  
  
"Nothing, babe. It's my fault that you're here," he answered, his voice growing fainter and tinged with self-chastisement. But, it strengthened again for a moment, and it seemed like he was right next to her as his voice said firmly, "You made the right choice, Niko. Now hold on to your decision, no matter what the Queen does to you."  
  
"I will," she said. Her own voice was fading as she started to awaken. "Thank you..."  
  
She opened her eyes, not moving a muscle otherwise. She looked wildly about the room in confusion. What had happened? Where was she? Looking around she realized she was in the bedchamber, and everything felt cold. Her head hurt. The dream had been so real that much she could remember...  
  
She had dreamed about that weakling, Niko.... hadn't she? The details of the dream were starting to slip from her grasp as she tried to grab them. She closed her eyes, and the memories played back. Everything seemed foggy. Was she Kraya, Niko, both, or neither? The more she tried to think about it, the foggier the memories became... and her headache began to worsen as she tried to concentrate on it.  
  
She didn't seem to be completely Kraya, was the thought that gradually came to her, although this time the thought did not disturb her, and that confused her even more. Her head ached abominably now, and the only thing Kraya could think of was sleep.... hoping it would allow her to escape the pain.  
  
It was split - she was of two minds and neither of them seemed to want to function.  
  
"I am not weak," she said to herself but the words lacked their usual conviction because of her confused state.  
  
She reached down to the foot of the bed and pulled up the extra blanket to try and block out the cold she felt deep down inside her... Slowly she lowered her head back on to the pillow and closed her eyes, trying to push out the fog that seemed to be moving through her mind.  
  
The "Niko," mind wanted to get up and explore. She wasn't about to let "Kraya" sleep. Finally, it was the "Kraya" mind which won out, and Kraya/Niko succumbed to sleep once more....  
  
* * * *  
  
Kraya walked around and looked at the attached arboretum.  
  
"So, you see, Your Majesty," the researcher explained, "The compound only affects plant and animal life, not humans."  
  
The Queen nodded, and glowered harshly at the red-haired woman next to her, "Pay attention, my dear!"  
  
Kraya jerked her attention back to what the technician was saying. "My dear," she said. "I want you to contact BETA and demonstrate the power of my new superweapon."  
  
"Your Majesty?" Kraya was surprised.  
  
"These plants have been cloned from samples my spies have taken on Granna." The Queen took a small remote control, and pressed a button. The image of an Earth-like planet flashed on the screen. Various other monitors showed the rich vegetation, and the primitive alien culture taking root on the planet. It was a peaceful day of work in the village. "This is the planet of Xanchi," the Queen explained. "A primitive people, a large amount of vegetation. Diverse, unpolluted, non-technological. The societies have just discovered farming."  
  
Kraya found her attention wandering.... The Queen wanted her to contact BETA?  
  
A huge screech as Crown fighters appeared in the air. A single pellet dropped from each. Magnification showed the pellets to be no bigger than a baseball. Six of them were dropped. As a hissing sound filled the air, and all vegetation in the area almost immediately blackened and withered. The villagers choked and collapsed. Within minutes, all that was left was barren rock and withered vegetation.  
  
Kraya/Niko staggered back, astonished. Fighting with her awe at her mistress' power There was a sense of loss, disgust... fear.  
  
"Even the threat of this will be sufficient. If I choose to I can deliver the pellet in a small undetectable rocket," the Queen remarked.  
  
"But, Mistress..." Kraya said.  
  
The Queen glowered at her harshly. "Kraya, remember your obedience."  
  
Kraya swallowed hard and said, "Yes, Mistress...."  
  
"If I didn't know better, I'd swear that you were having second thoughts," the Queen said, knowing which buttons to push. "That isn't an option with you."  
  
"I am not having second thoughts!" Kraya snapped. "How dare you think..."  
  
The Queen laughed, "Just testing you, Kraya. Now, my dear, I want you to contact BETA and tell them I want them to surrender the planet Granna IV to my control."  
  
"Or else?"  
  
"Or else, the same fate that befell those primitives will befall Granna. The only species this gas will not kill is humans. After all the vegetation is gone, I will be able to scoop them up easily. If they won't surrender, they will starve."  
  
Kraya barely surpressed a shudder. This new plan of her mistress' frightened her more than she was willing to admit, even to herself.  
  
"In addition, the lack of plant life will stop oxygen production. BETA can send food, but air for a planet?"  
  
"I see the point," said Kraya. "How long is the poison effective, Mistress? Will the planet ever be capable of supporting life again?"  
  
"Oh, it will be," said the Queen. "After about six months of Crown ships conducting terraforming." She threw her head back and let out a cackle that made even Kraya's blood run cold. "So, in the end, I will have humans to serve me and a new planet to rule! Without firing a single shot. Bloodless warfare. No lost resources or waste."  
  
In the back of Kraya's mind, Niko silently stood by, absorbing the information and worrying about how to give BETA all the information it needed....  
  
* * * *  
  
The bridge of the Laredo was an atmosphere of controlled nervousness. There were no clues as to where or when the Queen would invade. Any place would be good at this point...  
  
Zach stared out into the space in front of the ship. Doc noticed that he hadn't spoken or eaten much since their return from the Queen's Graveyard.  
  
"Captain?" he asked.  
  
Zach was slow to answer, "Yeah, Doc?"  
  
"Don't beat yourself up, Zach."  
  
Zachary nodded, then spoke to no one in particular, "After you guys got me out of the Psychocrypt, I swore that no one, especially anyone under my command, would wind up in that place."  
  
"Captain," Doc was normally so good with words, but now it was a Herculean task to form a sentence.  
  
Zach sighed and continued to stare at the monitor as he said, "We're stuck here, waiting for the Queen's armada to show up while the Queen could be doing who knows what to Niko..."  
  
"Zach... we could be lucky... she could be..."  
  
"'All right?' No, I don't think so, Doc..." The two Rangers thought about the possibilities. There were two places Niko could possibly be - the Psychocrypt or a grave.  
  
A technician turned to Commander Walsh who stood on the far-side of the bridge, "Sir, we're getting a hail from the Queen."  
  
"That..." Walsh grumbled a expletive under his breath. "Patch it through."  
  
The tech complied, and a second later the transmission was transferred to the big screen. The image flickered and jumped before attaining a clear, cohesive image.  
  
Doc and Zachary gasped. Doc took a stumbling step back, Zachary looked about ready to be sick. Even Commander Walsh was caught off-guard. It wasn't the Queen, but Niko! Her auburn hair was pulled into a harsh braid, and she wore black silk with purple trim and a black velvet cape.  
  
"Niko!" Zachary said, taking a step towards the image. "Niko, you're all right..."  
  
She spat at him angrily, "No thanks to you, Captain Foxx. You left me here to die."  
  
"Niko," Doc said from the back. "It's us. Your friends, remember?"  
  
"Friends?! Bah! A mistake, Ranger Hartford," she said icily. "A mistake I intend to rectify. Associating with you made me weak."  
  
"Niko, what are you talking about?" Zach asked.  
  
She straightened. "I've switched masters. The Queen was quite persuasive."  
  
"Are you crazy, Ranger Niko?" Walsh snapped.  
  
"You are the crazy ones, Commander, for failing to take your proper place in the galaxy. The weak must be conquered for the strong to survive."  
  
Zachary said, "Niko, whatever the Queen has done to you, I swear..."  
  
"That's the Queen of the Crown talking, Ranger," Walsh said at the same time.  
  
"Swear, Captain?" Niko asked, with a lift of her eyebrow. "You've sworn a lot of things, but you've not been strong enough to fulfill those oaths. Do I need to remind you of your dear wife?"  
  
Zachary winced. His one promise to his children that he had not been able to keep, as of yet, was to free his wife's Psychocrystal from the Queen of the Crown, and it was his biggest weakness.  
  
"The Queen has destroyed all of what I was," Niko said. "All the foolish loyalties, the foolish pity... She's purified me."  
  
"More like taken your soul," Zachary said, reaching out to her, trying to find the woman who was practically his daughter...  
  
"Destroy that pity, Captain. It doesn't become you. I'm no longer even Niko. I am Kraya, Student of the Queen." Niko/Kraya's eyes fixed on Doc. "Out of witty words, Doc?"  
  
Doc smiled and said, "Only for the moment, Lady Niko."  
  
The woman on the screen seemed to flinch at the use of her old nickname.  
  
"Where are O'Mega and Gooseman?" asked Walsh. "Has the Queen made 'students' of them, too?"  
  
"They weren't strong enough... They had too many barriers to be good students."  
  
"You mean, they're Slaverlords," Zach answered.  
  
Niko/Kraya nodded, a satisfied smile on her face. "Yes. They are now extensions of my mistress."  
  
"Isn't the Queen some sort of sorceress? A psychic?" Doc leaned forward to whisper in Zach's ear.  
  
"Psychic, yes... very powerful." Zach whispered back.  
  
"My Series Five Implant on the bet that Niko's psychic ability is the only reason she isn't looking at us from the inside of a red crystal."  
  
"I'd say you win the bet, Doc. Now, how do we get Niko back?"  
  
"Damned if I know. Two interceptors in the heat of battle... it would be dangerous, but easy to vanish."  
  
"Hell, Doc, we still don't know for certain which world is the Queen's target!"  
  
"Our fighters will be standing by," said Kraya. "With this." She picked up a vial of green-gray liquid. Then the holoviewer panned back to show an arboretum.  
  
"I have put one part per billion of this substance into the air systems of this eco-dome," her voice said off the screen. The plants sickened and withered into black stumps before the bridge crew's eyes. "Toxin Eighty is equally poisonous to all non-human life. The Queen has amassed enough of this substance to bombard Granna IV." The viewer flashed back to her face.  
  
"That's barbaric," barked Walsh. "Millions will starve."  
  
"That is the intention of the Queen," she said. "Granna will be bombarded with this, and the human population will be rounded up."  
  
"The harvest from Granna feeds most of the colony worlds on this side of the frontier!" Doc said, shocked.  
  
Kraya's dark evil flashed across her face again. "If humanity hasn't enough food, the Crown is more than willing to take surplus population off your hands..."  
  
Doc asked shrewdly, using his nickname for her, "Is this what you want, Lady Niko?"  
  
Her face twisted into grief and pain for a second - or did Doc and Zachary only imagine it? "It is the only choice. The only warning I am authorized to give."  
  
"Doc, I think you may have hit a nerve there..." Zach whispered to Doc.  
  
Doc nodded and said nothing.  
  
"Ranger Niko, you can tell the Queen that we will not bow down to her threats. We will fight her to the bitter end!" Walsh blustered.  
  
"I told you! Niko is no more! I am Kraya Dal'Jesset now!" Kraya spat out at Commander Walsh.  
  
Commander Walsh's eyes narrowed, "So be it, Kraya Dal'Jesset. Just tell the Queen that we will be waiting for her at Granna IV."  
  
"You have twelve hours before the invasion begins. I would suggest preparing the human populations of the colony worlds for their fate. Ni... Kraya Out."  
  
"She threw it," said Zachary after a stunned moment of silence. "She told us everything we needed to know."  
  
"Almost a warning," said Doc. "Which might mean..."  
  
"The Queen didn't do a thorough job of destroying Niko...."  
  
Zach and Doc looked at each other. They were going to have to do some planning here.  
  
"If you two are thinking of a rescue mission," said Walsh. "Then I'm not having it. Ranger Niko, I know, is a good woman, but if it comes down to it, she is..." He swallowed. "She is to be considered a casualty of war."  
  
  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	10. Chapter X Tied to the tracks and the tr...

Chapter X "Tied to the tracks and the train's just coming  
  
Strapped to the wing with the engine running  
  
You say that this wasn't in your plan  
  
And don't mess around with the demolition man..."  
  
Demolition Man, The Police  
  
The fleet had been given its orders, and was moving through hyperspace towards the Granna system, hoping to intercept the Queen of the Crown and her fleet before they could invade.  
  
The waiting was the longest.  
  
Neither Ranger could sleep very well knowing that one of their own had been so twisted and anguished....  
  
Doc paced the decks of the ship nervously. There was a good three hours left in the jump to Granna, and he'd already done all the things he had to. His implant was fully charged, his interceptor was primed and ready to go and still he had time to kill. He was too worked up to sit down and work on teaching his tweakers any new tricks and had to settle for pacing his cabin and the hallway of the battlecruiser.  
  
All he could see when he closed his eyes was Niko, or whatever the Queen had turned her into. What had the Queen done to her, he wondered over and over.  
  
He walked to a computer terminal. Roj, the Laredo's AI Unit. The brown eyeball floated as the AI waited for instructions.  
  
"Hey, Roj, any idea where Captain Foxx might be?" Doc asked.  
  
The eyeball bobbed. "Yes. Captain Foxx is in the ship's chapel."  
  
Before setting off in that direction, he said, "Thanks, Roj."  
  
The ship's chapel he pondered as he walked down the corridor, I didn't know he was religious, but then again, with what we've been through and how he's been taking this...  
  
Zach was sitting in one of the pews in the back of the chapel with a faraway expression on his face.  
  
Doc stepped into the chapel feeling uneasy, "Been a long time," he said to himself.  
  
Doc approached where Zach was sitting and slid in next to him, "Captain?"  
  
Zachary looked up. "Doc, I didn't think you'd be here."  
  
"Neither did I," Doc said looking around. "But it's good to have some backup, if you get my meaning," Doc smiled weakly.  
  
Zach nodded, and answered, "Yeah, Doc, I know what you mean..."  
  
They both sat there for a moment in silence with Doc not knowing what to say and Zachary lost in thought.  
  
"Zach," Doc said. "I know you're worried."  
  
Zach didn't answer, just kept looking up at the altar.  
  
Doc was silent again, trying to come up with something to say. The silence that filled the chapel was oppressing. "Wish I knew what to say," he said to himself, fidgeting in his seat. "There's got to be something of Niko left," he said finally. "At least she's still alive... And maybe whatever happened to her can be reversed."  
  
Zachary looked up. Everything in his face and eyes reflected someone who knew too well what the Queen could do. "I don't think so, Doc. She's alive, all right - physically. Anything else has been killed and just filled up with the Queen."  
  
Doc was afraid that that may well be the case, but he didn't want to admit it. "Don't be too certain, Captain."  
  
After another moment's pause, Doc said with worry filling his voice, "Captain... Zach, maybe we should go for a walk too much ah, time pondering something like this is not good.  
  
"I'd say lets get some fresh air, but--" he said shrugging and spreading his hands.  
  
"No, Doc. I'm staying right here and praying. I've been doing a lot of that over the past two years... trying to think of why everything happened the way it has.  
  
"Go for a walk if you want, Doc. I'm praying for whatever is left of Niko."  
  
Doc remained. He was silent and frustrated, and growing more and more worried about his captain.  
  
"Hate to say it, Zach," said Doc after another long pause. "But I have trouble believing in a deity that gives a damn about us in the long term."  
  
"I just see it differently than you, and I don't preach at you," he said facing Doc.  
  
"I'm sorry, Zach," Doc said, feeling a little foolish for his outburst.  
  
"Sometimes, faith is all you have left."  
  
Doc nodded, remembering his mother once saying something similar when he was younger. "Then, have faith that there is still something of Niko left and that she's not totally that Kraya person..." he stated, shifting his weight.  
  
Zach looked up at the altar again, not really seeing it, "Yes, I'm hoping there's something left."  
  
"Does it help? Praying, I mean?"  
  
Zachary sighed. "I don't know, but it was all I could do when Kidd pulled my ship out of hyperspace.  
  
"Besides, it helps me to focus.... like Niko does"  
  
Doc stood to leave, and as he walked out he glanced back at the candles that stood before the statue of the virgin mother. He paused perhaps out of habit that pulled at him from his childhood or perhaps out of the slim belief that it might help. He walked over and lit one of the candles, "Yes, I hope there is something left."  
  
He would have said more, but the PA system chimed to life and a voice said, "Captain Foxx and Ranger Hartford, please report to the briefing room. Captain Foxx and Ranger Hartford, please report to the briefing room.  
  
* * * *  
  
"All right, people, we have to make this net as tight as possible. We don't know if this bioweapon reproduces, so we can't afford to let any fighters get through to hit the surface." Zach stood at the front of the briefing room, explaining the strategy that the BETA fighters were to use against the Crown fighters.  
  
Some of the fresh faced pilots didn't look to be much older than his son, "little" Zach.  
  
"But, Captain Fox, how hard can it be to stop a bunch of fighters piloted by androids?" One of the young pilots spoke up.  
  
"That's the problem. We don't know for certain that the Crown fighters are piloted by androids. And, we're outnumbered by a large margin. If even one fighter getting close enough to deploy the bioweapon could devastate Granna --And starve a large portion of the League. You have to remember, that killing Crown fighters isn't the problem... Stopping them is." Zach answered.  
  
He showed them a clip of the bioweapon and Kraya's threats to emphasize the point.  
  
The point was made.  
  
"If those Crown fighters are piloted by androids, then they are programmed to suicide. If they are Dathians or Solari pilots, it still won't matter. The Queen inspires fanatical loyalty in those troops," Zach said somberly after shutting off the viewer.  
  
"This is going to be impossible," whispered one of the pilots. "We can destroy the fighters, but how do we know we destroyed the weapon?"  
  
"We won't," Zach answered, overhearing the pilot's whispered remark. "That why it's imperative that no fighters break our line. We hope that the bioweapon has to be deployed deep inside atmosphere, and that it will burn up upon entry into the atmosphere. Do you have any questions?"  
  
The pilot flushed red at being overheard, and shook his head. There were none.  
  
"All right. Good luck, and watch your backs out there."  
  
As Zach dismissed the pilots, the Public Address system chimed to life once more, "Attention! We will be dropping out of hyperspace at the Granna system in ten minutes time. All hands to their stations!"  
  
The announcement was repeated twice more before the PA system shut off.  
  
"That's it everyone, to your fighters." Zach said, and the pilots quickly moved out of the briefing room.  
  
The Laredo and her escorts made a crash translation from hyperspace, flinging the alert fighters even before the navigation systems had time to stabilize. Individual spacecraft spread out into their global defense grid and plunged toward Granna at flank speed, scanning for traces of hostile forces.  
  
* * * *  
  
It wasn't good. The line was holding, but the League forces had to cover Granna's entire globe against flankers, while the Crown took advantage of this, trying to drive a concentrated spearhead through one single point. Walsh had no point but to draw in the net, spreading the fighters even thinner, in order to stop the main Crown force. He prayed the gamble would not go sour on him...  
  
Out on the battle line, Zach and Doc were each in charge of a fighter squadron, and were each other's back-up. No matter how much they wanted to, Doc and Zach weren't going to bail on the main fight until they were sure that things had swung decisively their way...  
  
* * * *  
  
Inside the Queen's Super Destroyer, Kraya stood ready at the weapons control panel of the Queen's Flagship, which was staying well behind the battle lines, and watched the battle through non-seeing eyes. Her hand rested at her waist, as if searching for something that was no longer there.  
  
* * * *  
  
The League interceptor squadrons fought with an intensity bordering on the demonic, driven by the stakes of this engagement. The kill ratio was strongly in the League's favor, and climbing, but the Crown third wave was massing for a decisive breakthrough attack. Zach and Doc fought the Crown fighters off each other's wings, waiting, hoping for a break in the Crown lines to get through to one of the destroyers.  
  
The third wave of fighters crashed into the depleted line, forcing them back into the upper atmosphere... and the Crown warships plunged a lance of long-range missiles through the hole.  
  
"Blue Squadron! Break off attack and go after those missiles!" Zach called.  
  
* * * *  
  
As the Crown fighters launched another barrage of missiles, Kraya stood on the bridge of the Queen's flagship, watching the battle with a neutral expression on her face. Inside however, she was full of conflicting emotions. She wanted the Queen to win the battle and teach those weaklings of the League of Planets a lesson... Or, at least Kraya thought she did, and that scared her. Why did she think of Kraya as being someone else? She was Kraya.... Wasn't she?  
  
Kraya watched as the League forces ruthlessly went after the missiles, and felt like those doomed missiles broken into a thousand pieces, never to be whole again. She cast a covert, worried glance at her mistress. Should she tell her mistress about these feelings she was having? No! That would mean she was weak, and she wasn't weak! Not since her mistress had purified her, and had made her Kraya Dal'Jesset. With a burst of ferocity, she squashed that niggling voice of doubt, and turned her attention back to the battle being fought for the planet in front of her.  
  
* * * *  
  
Back out in the battle, a group of fighters peeled away to go after the rockets.  
  
"Blue wing, let's go!" Blue leader called out, pulling his interceptor away, and diving towards the planet. "Blue Two, you're with me. Blue Three and Four, straight up the middle. Blue Five and Six, go for the far end. Remember, we can't let any of these missiles reach the surface."  
  
Zach called out, "Gold Squad! Cover for them! Keep those fighters off their backs!"  
  
"Understood, Green Leader," Gold Leader answered, moving to go cover the other squad. He looked up and saw a Crown Fighter trying to sneak up behind one of his squad members. "Gold Four, watch out, you've got a bogey on your tail!"  
  
"Copy, Gold Leader. I can't shake him." Gold Four responded, pulling his fighter up and in to a loop.  
  
"I'm on my way, Gold Four," Gold Four's wingman put in, doing a barrel roll to the right and moving his fighter into position behind the Crown Fighter. About two seconds later, he had a lock on the fighter, and fired his lasers. The Crown Fighter exploded in a ball of flame as Gold Three calmly made another barrel roll to the right.  
  
"Thanks, Gold Three," Gold Four replied, coming out of his loop.  
  
"Good work, Gold three, now let's keep those Crown Fighters off Blue Squad's tail," Gold Leader said.  
  
"Copy, Gold Leader."  
  
The squad members moved to engage the Crown Fighters in a fast and furious dog-fight.  
  
While the Laredo dove into close-combat range and caught nearly half with her point defense, the remainder went through Blue Squadron. Another fifty percent was taken out, but there was nothing left between the last dozen and the surface... When Granna's Air Militia finally made their presence felt. Walsh had managed to get advanced interceptor missiles delivered to the surface for the GAM's outmoded aircraft. The mere dozen leakers were handled well by over fifty aircraft firing up to four missiles apiece.  
  
* * * *  
  
Doc had been keeping a close watch on the biggest of the Destroyers which had been staying well back out of the fighting, and which was now pulling away from the rest of the Crown Fleet. "Zach, unless I miss my guess, that's where Niko is. Granna is clear, let's do it!"  
  
"Right, Doc. Let's go for it!" Zach answered, and brought his fighter about.  
  
The two interceptors sped away from the battle line, and after the fleeing Crown Destroyer. Doc punched a button on his console, and the two interceptors suddenly disappeared from the League and Crown radar screens. It didn't matter, though. They were still being chased by a group of Crown fighters. Zach gritted his teeth. Good. if they were following his and Doc's interceptors, they weren't near the planet.  
  
A squad of League interceptors broke off their attack, and began pursuing the Crown Fighters, not willing to allow them to escape.  
  
* * * *  
  
Inside the Crown Destroyer, the Queen was fuming. It was obvious now that she wasn't going to win the battle at Granna.  
  
The missile containing the ultimate weapon - the toxin - was still aboard her ship. While the League was busy with her ships, she could still launch it.  
  
Three Crown frigates suddenly wheeled and plunged at the Laredo, battering at her shields and point defense. Aboard her flagship, the Queen waited for the hole her tactical officer had promised her...  
  
The Queen glanced at the monitors next to her chair... It appeared that two League Interceptors had broken through her fleet. Hmmm...they didn't appear to be attacking - more like distracting the fighters...or were they?  
  
She turned to her pupil, Kraya, and said, "Take out those two League Interceptors, now!"  
  
Kraya turned to the weapons firing control board in front of her, eager to do her Mistress' bidding. But, as she stared at the glowing blips on the monitor, she paused. She didn't move for a long moment. Finally, she hit the button for the tractor beam.  
  
"I will bring them here, Mistress. Two humans, after all, would be perfect to enhance your power."  
  
The Queen was...disturbed by this display of initiative. But perhaps, her training was taking better hold than she thought. She glared at Kraya. She would have to work on her pupil's conditioning more. This sudden display of free will was disturbing...  
  
The Queen motioned to her guards, "Go to the launch bay and bring those humans here. I want them to witness the destruction of their flagship.  
  
"Yes, Mistress."  
  
She gestured to the two Slaverlords behind her. She had their bodies in the hold of this ship - no need to hide them, and waste their power.  
  
"Take them with you."  
  
* * * *  
  
Outside, Doc and Zach were caught by the tractor beam and pulled towards the Crown Destroyer's' launch bay....  
  
  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	11. Chapter XI 'But you can shape the cours...

Chapter XI "Well, Mamma told me when I was young,  
  
'Stand tall girl, you're not for war.'  
  
She said, 'You can't be what you want to be,  
  
But you can shape the course of your destiny!'  
  
I can't break away!"  
  
I Can't Break Away, Big Pig  
  
Zachary felt physically ill at the sight. On the huge monitor of the battleship, they were witnessing Granna getting attacked. The Crown Destroyers had moved in, and were firing upon the League Cruisers and blasting away at the Interceptor squadrons. The tiny interceptors and cruisers of BETA were igniting and going to their silent graves out in space, and the Queen was standing on the bridge, witnessing it all. Damn, he wished these force-cuffs weren't so tight. The door slid open, and Niko walked in and stood next to the Queen. Zachary heard Doc gasp at the sight. She was still dressed in that less fancy version of the Queen's black and purple jumpsuit.  
  
"Mistress, what is the fleet's status?"  
  
The Queen smiled at her pupil, before answering. "As you can see, my dear, we're winning. Look down there."  
  
Zach hoped that this was a nightmare, something he could wake up from. He shouted, "Niko, it's us,"  
  
"Two Slaverlords of your own to command, dear," the Queen purred. "A reward for your service. Of course, I will have to hide the bodies..."  
  
Niko's face was blank as she heard her name called. She gave no sign of recognition.  
  
"She doesn't recognize us," said Doc. "The Queen probably shampooed her brain so well after her little call to BETA it's no surprise she wouldn't know her name."  
  
Zach agreed with that. It made perfect sense. He looked over to Doc, and asked, "They didn't leave you with your CDU, did they?"  
  
Doc grinned and leaned over to Zachary and whispered one word, "Nope."  
  
Zach realized that Doc had hidden the CDU and handed the guards a dummy. If they ever got back to BETA...  
  
"Where is it?"  
  
Doc looked down at the floor...No, his boot.  
  
Zach was hard pressed not to smile, "Doc.."  
  
"Computer programmer's rule number six: Never leave home without a back up." He continued, "It isn't anything great, it's old code. The first versions of Tripwire and Pathfinder. I'll need to dump it into a computer directly for it to work, though. That means a distraction."  
  
"Give me a moment, Doc"  
  
The Queen smiled and called a guard over. The robot strode to her side.  
  
"Give me your blaster," said the Queen. The robot obeyed. She walked over to Niko and handed her the blaster.  
  
"I've changed my mind about the prisoners. I want them dead," She pointed out Zachary and Doc standing out in the open below, "I want you to shoot them."  
  
"Mistress?" Kraya asked.  
  
"In the head, Girl!" the Queen ranted, standing and sending a jolt into Kraya's mind. The young woman gasped and stumbled back.  
  
She looked at the Queen in confusion, "Mistress? Why? Why did you do that?" Kraya stalled, something, just didn't feel right about shooting the two prisoners.  
  
Zach nodded to Doc, this was going to have to be it.  
  
"You dare ask questions of me!!!" The Queen sent another jolt, and Kraya screamed. Zachary and Doc whipped around, as did most of the guards.  
  
Doc moved away from Zach.  
  
"That's how she's keeping Niko under control," Zachary realized. But Doc was using the distraction to reach down and twist the heel on his boot.  
  
[pic]"Niko!" Zach called out. "Use your implant! Fight back!"  
  
The control disk fell out, and Doc started to inch his way to the nearest available terminal.  
  
Zach saw Doc's movement out of the corner of his eye. He was going to have to move fast once the guards noticed what Doc was doing.  
  
Kraya shook her head as if she had something caught in her ear.  
  
Zach called out again, "Niko! Remember! You're a Galaxy Ranger!"  
  
She started to back up, and raise her blaster, aiming it towards the floor below...  
  
The Queen smiled in anticipation. Yes, this would truly make Niko hers, if she killed her fellow Rangers.  
  
Time slowed to an obscene crawl. Zachary looked up. He wouldn't have time to move...  
  
"Do it, my dear, remember, they deserted you, left you for dead...." the Queen goaded.  
  
Kraya/Niko's face was twisted and angry as she fired the blaster.  
  
"Niko! Kraya! Don't-" Zach started to cry out.  
  
The shot glanced past Zachary, hitting the console behind him, which started spitting and sparking. The Queen's superweapon was rendered useless.  
  
"No!!!" shouted the Queen. "You little Ranger Bitch! You've ruined everything!"  
  
"Niko! Watch out!" Zach called, wishing he could do something.  
  
Niko didn't seem to acknowledge as she kept firing and firing, the panel sparking and flaming, robot guards were milling around, and Zachary was doing his level best to fight them off.  
  
Doc managed to get to a control panel and insert his disk. These little programs wouldn't be much, but...He found a submenu describing command codes for the doomsday device.  
  
The lights on the bridge started to flash and a siren blared. "Five minutes to self-destruct. The self-destruct has been activated..."  
  
Doc choked and tried to punch in the code again, but no use. "Shit!" he cursed, and looked up. The guards had noticed him now, along with the Queen.  
  
"Get him! I don't care if you get him alive or not, but get him!" She cried out in anger.  
  
Doc bolted. He had to get out of here, as there was no way he'd be able to get to Zachary and the others. He rushed one of the guards that was heading straight for him, knocking the robot down. Doc paused long enough to get the keys to the force-cuffs, and the guards blaster. The force-cuffs fell off him, and he stuffed the keys into his uniform almost absentmindedly. He dashed further and further into the bowels of the ship.  
  
The countdown was ticking. Four minutes, thirty...  
  
He had to stop the countdown, or else Niko and Zach were toast... Panting, he slammed into white cloth.  
  
Oh, shit! he thought. I'm done for! Looking up, he gasped, and stumbled back. Two Slaverlords... and the faces in the crystals. They were Daisy O'Mega and Goose's!  
  
"Damn!" Doc cursed.  
  
They were expecting him to run, but in that instant, Doc did something that they weren't planning. He ran full on into Daisy's Slaverlord, at an almost suicidal rate. Making a blind grab, his hands clasped around her crystal, the Slaverlord collapsing into nothing.  
  
A shot rang out, and Doc sidestepped out of the way, but not gracefully enough. He fell to the floor, rolling to protect Daisy's crystal. He rolled onto his back to see Shane's Slaverlord towering over him. His leg was numb from the glancing stun blast, and a blaster was pointed at his head.  
  
He looked up at the Slaverlord and said, "You don't really want to shoot me, do you?" He swallowed, heart pounding, sweating buckets. "Uh... look, Goose... you shoot me, who would cover your ass in those stupid bets?"  
  
The Slaverlord didn't move, and the blaster remained pointed at his head.  
  
Doc exhaled and said a short prayer to whatever deity protected him.  
  
He got off the floor slowly, still hampered by his stiff leg.  
  
Four minutes...  
  
The Slaverlord still had the blaster trained on him and tracked his every move.  
  
Doc sighed. "Why am I bothering? We only have four minutes left. But, at least I'm not dying alone. You're going with me..." Doc started to walk away, ignoring the blaster at his back. He walked up to a console. He pressed a few buttons.  
  
Three minutes, forty-five seconds...  
  
"Why bother? We're all doomed anyway."  
  
Doc whipped around. The Slaverlord had shifted shape, now appearing as a ghostly version of Shane. The broken look that filled him was something Doc hoped he'd never see again.  
  
"Because I swore that I'd do my best to protect the League, just as you did," he managed to punch in a loop to the timer. They now had eight minutes to live, but the self-destruct was not going to shut down.  
  
He made a conscious effort to ignore the Slaverlord at his back as he moved away from the control console. He paused to wonder why the Slaverlord had not shot him, or had not summoned the guards to come haul him away. Doc pressed a button on a wall opposite the control console, and two crystal coffins slid out.  
  
Coolly, Doc walked over to one of them and joined Daisy's mind-crystal to her body crystal.  
  
She groaned and struggled to come to consciousness.  
  
He opened Goose's up next and made a grab for the crystal from Goose's Slaverlord as it disappeared. Doc had an odd feeling about this, like he never should mention this incident to Shane as long as they both lived. He joined the crystals, and Shane opened his eyes.  
  
It took Shane a second to find his voice, "Doc?"  
  
Helping both Shane and Daisy from the coffins, he grinned. "Welcome back to the land of the living...at least for the next six and a half minutes." He then said, "Yes, my Gooseman?"  
  
"Thanks," he said, his voice even more raspy than usual.  
  
Daisy leaned heavily against her crystal coffin, still feeling drained and woozy, and at a complete loss to where she was.  
  
Back on the bridge, all hell had broken loose. Zach was fighting a losing battle with his hands still bound by the force-cuffs. He couldn't activate his badge, and he couldn't effectively use his bionic arm.  
  
On the platform, Niko was fighting a battle for her freedom and sanity on both the physical and psychic planes.  
  
"You will obey..." the Queen hissed, pushing her both physically and mentally.  
  
The damn blocking her memories was starting to weaken, and Niko was beginning to remember just who she was. She staggered back, hands still clenching the blaster, but unable to raise it.  
  
Zachary dashed up to the platform, dodging Crown guards.  
  
"No!" Niko cried out, fighting to stay on her feet. Damn, if she would kneel to the Queen again.  
  
Five minutes...  
  
Niko started to back away, despite the blasts crashing into her mind. She turned and fired, the shot breaking Zachary's force-cuffs.  
  
"Get out of my mind!" she bit out; each word a sentence by itself. She spared a glance for Zach and cried, "Get out of here, Captain! Leave!"  
  
The banshee-like wail of her voice laced through Zachary.  
  
"No! Not without you!" Zach answered.  
  
Niko still had the blaster, but was unable to raise it. She had both hands clenched to the sides of her head, which felt like it was being split open by a pile-driver.  
  
The League Space Naval Fleet was beginning to rip through the smaller Crown fleet. Without the doomsday weapon, they wouldn't be able to take Granna.  
  
The Queen turned to the surprised guards and said, "What are you waiting for?! Shoot him!! Captain Foxx," she spat. "You will not win! Never! Not against me!"  
  
She turned her attention back to Niko, sending another, even more powerful pain spike into her mind. Then, she lashed out one more time at Niko with a full jolt of fury-driven psychic power. Niko yowled in mortal agony as she collapsed to the floor, lifeless.  
  
A guard ran up to the Queen, "Highness, we must abandon ship. The self- destruct..."  
  
"Niko!" Zach shouted, finally reaching her side.  
  
"It's too late, Captain Foxx," the Queen gloated. "Too late for you both. You'll never get out alive."  
  
She turned and ran off the bridge with her guards.  
  
Two minutes and counting.  
  
Robots still patrolled the floor. Zach picked Niko up in his arms and tried to revive her without luck. He was shocked by the sheer lack of weight on her. The Queen must have starved her. She felt like she could break at any second. Her breathing was shallow.  
  
"Come on, Niko! Wake up!" he said urgently, desperately.  
  
Zachary dashed to the turbolift door and shifting Niko's weight, he slammed his fist into the door controls. His bionics spit and sparked, along with the controls, and he couldn't feel his fingers. He'd pay for that.  
  
The lift door slid open, and Zachary bolted in, barely ducking the hail of stun beams lashing at him. The door closed and started its decent towards the shuttlebay.  
  
One minute and counting...  
  
He looked up and saw that he was sharing the lift with Doc along with the restored Goose and Daisy.  
  
"Doc! Am I glad to see you!" he said.  
  
"We came back to get you, Cap..." Doc's cheerful greeting was cut off when he saw Shane cradling Niko's ashen form.  
  
Daisy huddled in the back and didn't say a word. She was still trying to shake off the lingering confusion and weakness from the Psychocrypt.  
  
"Oh, no..." was all Doc could say.  
  
"The Queen did something to her. I'm not sure exactly what," Zach said somberly.  
  
The lift stopped at the shuttlebay, and any guards patrolling it had had the good sense to abandon ship already. A couple of slow shuttles were all that remained. Piling into one, Doc sat in the pilot seat and Daisy took the co-pilot seat.  
  
"Everyone buckle in," barked Daisy. "This ride'll be a mite rough."  
  
Shane stayed in the back of the shuttle, not letting Niko out of his arms for a moment.  
  
There were five people in a shuttle designed for two. It was cramped, and the life support would be taxed hugely, but all they needed to do was make it to Granna. The shuttle lurched out of the bay with a jolt, the thrusters kicking in with a cough.  
  
As soon as they were out of range, the Crown destroyer detonated in a large, sweeping fireball.  
  
Shane looked down at Niko mournfully. He'd left her on such awkward terms. Now, he may never get a chance to make things right. "Hang in there, Niko..." he said softly. Looking up, he saw Daisy and Doc slaving over the controls. Maybe none of them would make it to Granna, was his scared thought.  
  
The shuttle got bounced about in the shock-wave, but Daisy and Doc managed to keep the shuttle under some sort of control.  
  
As soon as they were out of the shock wave, and the debris field, Doc tried the radio.  
  
Goose remembered what happened at Wollchat. They had disabled the Queen's big weapon, but were in a shuttle with only five minutes of air. He remembered gripping the seat arm, and then feeling Niko reach out and put an assuring hand over his.  
  
"This is Galaxy Ranger Hartford to any BETA vessel. Requesting emergency aid. Repeat. Requesting emergency aid." Doc turned around. "Guess what, guys. The radio's shot."  
  
Zach just had this look on his face that said, what else can go wrong?  
  
"And with the weight, we won't be able to land on Granna, either. Bloody hell." Daisy cursed fluently.  
  
Goose looked up and said, "Now what?"  
  
Zachary sighed. "Do you believe in God?"  
  
Goose looked at Zach somewhat confused, "I don't know... why?"  
  
"Because, now's the time to start praying for a miracle," Zach answered, looking at Goose and then down at Niko.  
  
After a long pause, Shane looked up, "Captain, what happened to her?" His voice was uncharacteristically choked.  
  
"She wrecked the Queen's doomsday device... she saved the lives of those people down on Granna. The Queen... attacked her, not physically, but in her mind...."  
  
"Doc, can you get this piece of junk to tell us what league ships are the closest to our position?" Zach asked a moment later.  
  
"The Laredo is only..." Doc said.  
  
"Head for the Laredo. It's our best chance." Zach interrupted. He didn't add that it may be Niko's only chance.  
  
They were hit by something. Daisy turned around, eyes lit up. "By the green hills! They have a tractor beam locked onto us!"  
  
"How's she doing?' asked Zachary.  
  
"I don't know, Zach... she's barely breathing..." Goose answered, looking at his captain.  
  
Zachary patted Shane's shoulder. "We all care about her. Hold on."  
  
The shuttle was pulled into the Laredo.....  
  
* * * *  
  
Daisy watched with mixed feelings as Niko was rushed off to medical. She couldn't understand why she felt guilty that Niko had been injured when trying to rescue her of all people... She who had once been head of one of the most notorious criminal gangs in the galaxy was now feeling guilty about a Galaxy Ranger being seriously injured trying to save not only her, but her comrades? Daisy just couldn't figure it out, and at the moment, she didn't even know how she was still on her feet, she had such a crushing headache... A hangover from the Psychocrypt, she suspected.  
  
With an effort, she straightened her back and tried not to look like she felt she was going to keel over at any moment as Commander Walsh approached the small group. It was really an odd feeling, having a body again after a couple weeks of being nothing but a psychic construct. She was rather glad that she didn't have to try and aim her blasters.  
  
She tried to take a step forward, only to fall.  
  
A pair of arms caught her. "Easy there."  
  
She looked up and saw that it was Commander Walsh who caught her.  
  
Great, she thought, what an impression to make! I fall right into his arms!  
  
"Commander," she said weakly. "Thank you."  
  
"You've been through a lot, Miss O'Mega. I've heard reports about post- Psychocrypt shock. I'll take you to the sickbay to have you checked out."  
  
Daisy nodded silently. She leaned on him heavily, as he motioned his aide to go let medical know they were coming.  
  
"Your information saved an entire planet," Walsh said. After a long pause, he continued, "That won't be forgotten. We'll grant you your request for am- "  
  
"Like I said before, Commander, I have no love for the Queen of the Crown...." Daisy interrupted with just a hint of her usual feistiness. "What of Shane and Niko? They got themselves hurt trying..."  
  
The Rangers had fallen in behind Walsh and Daisy, and Shane spoke up, "I'll live, even though the Psychocrypt leaves you with one hell of a hangover."  
  
She looked at Shane, whose eyes were on the bustle of medical technicians trying to stabilize Niko enough to get her to the sickbay. She wasn't blind, far from it. She remembered the icy looks Niko had given her the last time they ran across each other.  
  
"And, as for Ranger Niko..." Walsh's voice trailed off for a second, as he too looked over to where the med-techs were working on Niko. "We don't know yet how badly she was injured by the Queen..."  
  
"I hope she'll be all right," Daisy said. "She's the true hero of this whole bloody mess, after all."  
  
Walsh was somewhat surprised. He had been half-expecting to find a hardened, brazen criminal... not this truly subdued and remorseful woman. It went a lot deeper than just the post-Psychocrypt shock, or did it?  
  
Doc and Zach also looked at each other in surprise. Did they hear Daisy right? Goose kept quiet, still watching the med-techs with an anxious expression, almost oblivious to the surroundings.  
  
"Commander," she said. "I don't believe I can return to where I was. Things... changed. Not just the Queen. I'll take amnsety, but if BETA insists on bringing me to trial, it just might be time for me to turn myself in."  
  
"You've more than earned your pardon, Miss O'Mega. You can go anywhere in the galaxy now..." Commander Walsh answered.  
  
"I won't be going back to the wrong side of the law, Commander. I'll have to think about what other options there are for a fast gun."  
  
Commander Walsh allowed himself a small chuckle, "I'm sure you'll think of something, Miss O'Mega."  
  
Daisy's remaining strength gave out, and she could feel herself about to faint. She said, "Commander..." as her knees buckled, and she slid towards the ground.  
  
This time, one of the med-techs rushed forward and helped Commander Walsh catch her.  
  
One med-tech looked her over with a scanner. "She's exhausted. I'd say let her sleep for a few days, and she'll be okay."  
  
He punched in a few bits of data. "Who is she? One of the colonist militia?"  
  
"No," said Walsh. "Daisy O'Mega. She was responsible for warning us that the Queen was going to invade Granna," he continued.  
  
The med-tech lifted an eyebrow, "Wonders never cease."  
  
Another med-tech noticed with sharp eyes Zach's damaged bionic hand. "Captain Foxx, your hand..."  
  
Zachary looked down, noticing the sparking and gaping wires as if it were the first time he saw it. "Oh, that. Little injury on the way out. It doesn't feel as bad as it looks. It can wait. How's Niko?" Foxx was concerned about his teammate.  
  
The med-tech shook his head. "Not good, I'm afraid. She's breathing with respirators and is in deep physical shock. What's worse is her neural readings. We haven't seen anything like this before."  
  
"But, she's going to be all right, isn't she?" Doc asked, equally worried.  
  
"We don't know, Ranger Hartford," the med-tech said. "The doctors are trying their best. We think we can get her stabilized, but anything past that is up to her and God."  
  
A Catch-22 then... The gifts that made Niko unique, also made it hard for the medics to understand, much less cure her.  
  
The Rangers and Walsh hung their heads, except for Goose, who just walked over to the glass partition and stared though it as the flurry of medical personnel continued their struggle.  
  
"Now, if you'll excuse, me gentlemen, Commander Walsh, I'll see that Miss O'Mega is taken care of..."  
  
Zachary looked over at Goose. "Goose, you ought to get some rest."  
  
"Not until I know she's out of danger," Goose answered. "You go on. I'll be all right, sir," he said distantly. "You're the one who needs help."  
  
Zachary was about to protest, but then remembered his own share of sleepless nights. He was vaguely aware of his hand starting to hurt now. "All right," he said. "But just remember that she'd want you to take care of yourself, okay?"  
  
Doc came over and said, "Come on, Captain, we'd better get your hand looked at..."  
  
Zachary nodded, and he and Doc walked away. Walsh had already left quietly. That left Shane alone.  
  
* * * *  
  
Niko had destroyed the weapon, saved so many people...and of course, he knew what the Queen was doing to her. Ripping away her psyche a piece at a time... Shane unconsciously crossed his arms, as if warding off some impending blast of cold air.  
  
The Laredo medical staff worked feverishly to stabilize Niko and to try and find out why she was in a coma.  
  
He was so deep in thought that he almost didn't hear the door to the observation area open. "Yes?"  
  
Doc came walking in, his normally cheerful expression was somber as he approached with the Laredo's medical officer.  
  
The medical officer nodded. "I think... it would be easier to hear it from you, Dr. Hartford." The man left, and the two of them were alone in the room.  
  
"Hey, Goose," Doc said quietly. "How are you doing? I thought you'd be sleeping. From what Zach and Daisy told me, the Psychocrypt takes a lot out of a person."  
  
"Nah, couldn't sleep..." Goose shook his head as he ran a hand through his tousled hair.  
  
"I got the news on Niko," Doc said. "Doctor Ardrel told me that she has a chance."  
  
Goose looked up hopefully, "She does? Tell me, Doc."  
  
"They've never seen a case like hers, so it's... it's hard to say. What I know is she's breathing well on her own, and she's not in the deep neural shock like she was when she first came aboard."  
  
"But, will she wake up?" Goose turned his head and continued to look off into the observation room trying to catch another glimpse of the auburn hair.  
  
"Gooseman, talk to me, okay?" said Doc. "Something's eating you. I know you're worried. Hell, I'm really worried, but you haven't left here for almost ten hours now."  
  
Goose sighed, and ran a hand through his hair once more. "I'll leave when I'm ready," he said, not allowing his eyes to stray from the window.  
  
"Niko means a lot to us both. She's our friend, after all," Doc said, trying to get Goose to open up to him.  
  
"Yeah." Goose answered, then thought, and more to me.  
  
"I didn't get to say good-bye, either," said Doc. "Last I saw of her before this, Zach and I were bolting out of Sorry End like bats out of hell."  
  
A long pause.  
  
"Well, at least she wasn't mad at you when you left," Goose said wryly.  
  
"So that's what this is about. Man, I'm sorry."  
  
"Nothing will change it, Doc. I'll just lose my chance."  
  
"Why was she mad?" asked Doc.  
  
"It was something stupid. I was... a little too protective of her after the Scarecrow got her back on Granna, I guess."  
  
"My Gooseman," Doc had to hide a smile. "Protective? Well, I know she was in lousy shape after that last attack. Scarecrow damn near proved that the third time's a charm."  
  
"What's so damn funny, Doc?" Shane said, his voice oddly flat.  
  
Doc smothered his grin, just barely. He scrambled to find a way to defuse Goose's temper. He did not want Goose to cold-cock him. Taking a look in on Niko quickly sobered him. In a flash, all the pieces came together. Doc cleared his throat, "Nothing really."  
  
"She thought I was acting like a mother hen," Shane said. "Looking back, I guess she was right. I just... didn't want her hurt again... I don't know why I was looking out for her the way I did..."  
  
"So, tell me, was that the only reason she was upset with you?" Doc questioned. He was starting to get somewhere now.  
  
Shane blinked, and touched the glass, almost as if hoping he could reach through and touch Niko.  
  
Doc looked like he wanted to say something, but he couldn't tell Shane this. He had to figure it out for himself and recognize what it was.  
  
"We can't live in the past. We have to hope for the future," Doc muttered.  
  
"That sounds like something Niko would say, Doc," Shane glanced at his friend with a wry smile.  
  
"It is. It's something she told me once."  
  
Shane spoke again after a long time, not really paying attention to his words, staring into the glass. "I was getting ready to go after Daisy. She was standing there, expecting me to apologize or something. I didn't know what. I just walked up and I gave her a kiss good-bye..." He looked back through the window, hoping, willing Niko to wake up, to look his way...  
  
"That doesn't sound so awful, Goose," Doc quipped, trying to put some lightness back into the conversation.  
  
"She's my friend, Doc. I suppose she was from the start...I just didn't know what to do on Granna, so..."  
  
"So you gave her a kiss."  
  
Shane actually looked embarrassed as he answered, "Yeah..."  
  
Doc had to fight hard to hide the smile that threatened to break out on his face. "But you were separated, and..."  
  
"And," Shane said, turning to him and barking. "I was turned into part of the Queen's sick head. I was there when she did all that to Niko! I was watching and couldn't do anything. I would have done anything to stop the Queen from hurting her."  
  
"Anything?" asked Doc.  
  
"Anything."  
  
"Because you love her."  
  
"Yes!" Shane realized what he had just said, then staggered back. "Doc, you... you... you tricked me!"  
  
Doc smiled. There, he thought satisfied, he had gotten Shane to admit it.  
  
Shane Gooseman, Supertrooper, felt relieved in a way.  
  
Doc didn't bother to hide the grin that found its way to his face this time. "It's about time you admitted it, Gooseman."  
  
"But, Doc, Niko's... she's my friend. I... She wouldn't feel the same way about me, all right?"  
  
"Oh, really, now how did you come to that conclusion? Did you ask her?" Doc was so tempted to roll his eyes.  
  
"Doc... Oh, hell. Even if she did... she deserves someone better than me..."  
  
"I don't know," said Doc. "Lots of folks think you're pretty decent."  
  
"She's beautiful, Doc. She never...I wasn't a monster to her."  
  
"Goose, have you even tried to talk to her about how she might feel?" Doc asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"No, and I may never get the chance."  
  
"Aw, Goose... I'm sorry."  
  
"Doc," said Shane. "Do me a favor on this."  
  
"Sure, my Gooseman, go right ahead."  
  
"You've got to promise me that you won't tell Niko this...Forget about this conversation totally. Don't leak any of this to Zachary, either."  
  
"But, will you tell Niko and let her decide for herself when she wakes up?"  
  
Doc had his fingers crossed behind his back. He would tell Niko if Goose never worked up the courage to do it. "The rest is up to you. You're going to have to tell her yourself. I won't breathe a word to anyone."  
  
Shane clasped Doc on the shoulder and grinned with mock fierceness. "You know, if this gets out, you'll have me on your doorstep ready to knock you into next week"  
  
Doc nodded, "Okay man, not a word. Keep me posted, okay?"  
  
"Okay, Doc."  
  
Doc toyed with the idea of sending a message on a monitor so Niko could see it. He hoped she would survive to allow it.  
  
Doc vanished out the door into the next room to go check on Zach. Shane continued to stare into the next room.  
  
The Laredo's medical officer poked out his head, "Ranger Gooseman?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"If you want to see your friend, she's in here. It will be all right. In fact, it just might help her come out of it."  
  
"I'm coming," Shane said before walking into Niko's room.  
  
* * * *  
  
Shane sat at Niko's bedside and never thought he'd feel this awful. He'd seen Death... known what is was to see a friend dying on the battlefield. Casualties were a too-common part of Wolf Den life. He could accept it then, as it was all he knew.  
  
So much had happened in these past two years. He had made some genuine friends, tied up a few loose ends where his loyalties were concerned, and even started to trust...  
  
He sat by her bed, just like he had when she had been hurt so badly by the Scarecrow. The feelings were a lot more intense now. His gut felt like it was tied up in knots.  
  
How the hell do I speak to her? he thought. Would she hear any of it?  
  
"Niko," he whispered. "It's Shane. Is any of this getting through?"  
  
No response. Just as well. Damn it, why did he have to be so gutless when she was still well?  
  
I can fight Crown Agents by the dozen, betray and hunt my former friends, and face down near-impossible odds... but I'm so scared to talk... Of course. Fighting I know. Fighting is what I was created to do...  
  
He closed his eyes and remembered. Niko... she wasn't frightened by him, not even a little. He told her outright what he was... a weapon designed to kill in the League's name. He had hoped to scare her away, to put up that distance to discourage her from even bothering to befriend him.  
  
He brushed a lock of hair from her face. Niko had persisted, and Shane was so glad she did. She didn't fear him, or want to use him for something. She watched out for him... even off the field.  
  
I was designed to kill, not love. I had to learn that...Thanks, Babe. Thank you for not being afraid of me. Thank you for teaching me.  
  
"Niko," he whispered, voice choked. "I know you're strong. It's up to you which way you want to go... Either way, I'll be here. Even if I'm just saying good-bye."  
  
He just took her hand and held it, staring blankly at the monitors. Without realizing it, he had placed her limp hand over his heart. Too afraid to voice his real desire out loud he sat silently by her bedside, waiting.  
  
* * * *  
  
Outside the Medical Bay, Doc and Zach paced the corridors.  
  
"Goose won't leave her side. If she..." Doc swallowed. "If she doesn't make it, I think we ought to keep a really close eye on him."  
  
Zachary nodded. "I know, Doc. I know... Goose and Niko didn't want to admit it to each other, but..."  
  
"I think Goose just started to admit it to himself during that incident with the Scarecrow," Doc sighed. "God, he's going through hell right now. I talked to him a little bit ago."  
  
"Get anything out of him?"  
  
"Nope. Total stonewall. Not surprised, though."  
  
Zachary took a last gulp of coffee. "Come on, Doc. Let's go check up on Niko."  
  
* * * *  
  
It was late, and Goose had long since given up on trying to keep track of how long he had spent by Niko's bedside, silently willing her to wake up. He'd fallen asleep in that chair. He was going to wait it out, no matter which way it went. Niko had been injured saving those millions of people on Granna, and in rescuing both him and Daisy. The least he could do was wait it out with her. Despite his attempts to stay awake, the emotional exhaustion of keeping his vigil and the post-Psychocrypt shock caused him to finally fall asleep.  
  
She stirred a little, then managed to open her eyes. Where was she? How did she get here? Her vision refused to focus, and she was too weak to do much moving. Her hearing, though, was fine. She could hear medical monitors surrounding her. Reaching out weakly with her right hand, she felt something. A finger... a hand...  
  
Shane felt something run across his hand. Jerking awake, he looked down and saw Niko's hand brushing against his.  
  
Zachary and Doc were passing near the hospital room when they heard a noise that seemed almost torn from a masculine throat. Freezing in their tracks, they spun around and, instantly recognizing the voice, sped towards Niko's room.  
  
Zachary stopped a short distance from the closed door and stopped Doc. Walking carefully to the door, Zachary turned the handle, readying words of comfort. A quick glance at Doc's uncharacteristically worried face revealed that Doc was also preparing for the worst.  
  
They opened the door. All they could see was Shane's back. He was holding something or someone, and neither Zachary or Doc could see the monitors from the doorway. They walked forward, and Shane turned towards them.  
  
Zachary was half expecting to see Shane half-mad with grief, holding the dead body of their teammate and friend.  
  
But it was the exact opposite.  
  
She had her eyes open, and they were bright and clear. Shane was holding her, a huge smile on his face.  
  
"Hello, you two," Niko whispered, still weak, but not the wreck they'd drug out of the Queen's ship.  
  
Doc flashed his characteristic grin, and bowed mockingly, "And a good morning to you, Lady Niko."  
  
Zachary came forward. "Glad to have you back."  
  
"Good to be back," she whispered, then turned to Shane. "I need to rest."  
  
Shane lowered her to the bed gently and slid the pillow under her head. He took her hand in both of his, seeming to forget that Zachary and Doc were in the room. "It's okay, Babe. Sleep. You've earned it."  
  
Doc shot a glance over to Zachary and whispered, "I say we split and leave the lovebirds on their own."  
  
Zachary chuckled a little, "Sure that's a good idea?"  
  
Doc winked, "Trust me, they'll be fine."  
  
Zachary had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing too loudly. He nodded to Doc, and they made a discreet exit.  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	12. Chapter XII Dream another dream this d...

Chapter XII "Oh, it's a rip-off  
  
We're stepped on and cheated  
  
Flat stone cold lied to  
  
We're not defeated. No!  
  
Dream another dream  
  
This dream is over..."  
  
Dream Another Dream, Van Halen  
  
It had been about two weeks since the battle at Granna. While most of the league was trying to recover from the aftershocks of the battle, the Rangers had pretty much found themselves at loose ends during that time. Walsh kept an eye on his team from afar while he had dealt with the fall out from the battle, and on the former outlaw, Daisy O'Mega.  
  
Daisy had been remarkably quiet and Walsh didn't know what to make of the change he'd seen from the brassy criminal. He did notice Daisy had made plans to go back to see family she'd left behind in Ireland. He looked over the report in front of him once more and saw MaCross featured prominently in it. Sighing, he called up the criminal reports-- add treason, attempted murder of a BETA informant and a Galaxy Ranger to the thick list of charges. Walsh was surprised when she came to see him at his office right after her shuttle from Dublin had landed at the New Phoenix skyport. She looked very subdued, oddly enough. Her flaming red hair was even pulled back into a hairband. She still had a rough and ready appearance with her faded shirt and worn pants covered by a pair of dark brown leather chaps, however.  
  
Walsh stood up and greeted her. As he sat back down, he asked, "What can I do for you, Miss O'Mega?"  
  
"I want to know about whether or not MaCross has been caught while I was otherwise occupied."  
  
"Thought you and he were partners."  
  
"Were bein' the operative word, Commander Walsh," she suddenly barked, her brogue thickening with fury.  
  
Walsh's eyebrows rose in surprise, and he answered grimly, "No, Miss O'Mega, as a matter of fact he hasn't been."  
  
"Then he won't be caught if things sit too long." she said, her face reflecting her barely contained anger. "I want that dog to pay, even if I hunt him down meself."  
  
Walsh leaned back in his chair. "You know, Miss O'Mega. Earth government still has your bounty hunters' registry from five years ago on file."  
  
Daisy smiled. "Thought that went out the window with the new government."  
  
"It went out the window when you turned outlaw."  
  
Daisy was silent for a long time before answering that one. "I know, Commander. Really thought I could continue on the way I was. I never stopped to think that that scurvy piece of slime, MaCross would get to me..." She shook her head. "But, the longer I lived among those I wanted to hunt, the more like them I became. Saw too many fools making the laws, and trying to shut me out of me trade... good friend got himself killed, and it wasn't going to happen to me. So, I faked my death and went across the line." She shrugged. "MaCross helped me then. He was the man who supposedly shot me dead, then blew up my ship. In return, I joined his gang. We split it all, and things were too good for a while."  
  
Walsh simply nodded, knowing that she needed to tell someone this. She was staring off into something Walsh couldn't place. "Good times never last, though. Not with MaCross...  
  
"Any place for a good bounty hunter in your brand new League?"  
  
Walsh allowed himself a small smile. "I think that there's space for another bounty hunter, Miss O'Mega."  
  
"What do I have to do first?"  
  
"I had a feeling that you might ask this, Miss O'Mega, and I've already had the necessary paperwork processed. In fact, Miss O'Mega, I already have leads on where MaCross is reportedly hiding out these days."  
  
"You do? Which hole is it this time?" Daisy asked, knowing MaCross' habit of picking the grundgiest bars in the universe. She raised an eyebrow. "Probably out where there's plenty of saloons. He's more likely drinking and wenching his earnings away."  
  
"My sources say that he's at the Kelldoran Outpost-on the edge of League Space."  
  
Daisy's eyes narrowed. "Kelldoran, eh? Can't say as his taste has improved any."  
  
The comm unit on Walsh's desk beeped discreetly. Walsh glanced at it for a moment before answering, "Yes?"  
  
"Sir, you wanted me to inform you when it was time for the briefing with Dr. Hunter and Captain Foxx and his team? Dr. Hunter just called and said he would be ready for you ten minutes from now."  
  
"Right. Thank you," Walsh answered and immediately cut the transmission.  
  
Daisy stood up, and headed for the door.  
  
"Hold on, Miss O'Mega, I'd like for you to accompany me, if you would please."  
  
"Why so, Commander?" Her eyes narrowed.  
  
"I'm going to be sending you out with the Series-5 team to go track down MaCross," Walsh answered.  
  
At Daisy's blank look, he amended, "Captain Foxx's team."  
  
Daisy was caught off guard. She hadn't expected to be going out after him so soon.  
  
"That is, unless you want to let the Rangers catch him."  
  
Daisy straightened. "Absolutely not."  
  
"Good." He pressed the button for the intercom again, and said, "Bring in the paperwork for Miss O'Mega."  
  
"Yes, sir," the aide replied, and almost immediately walked in carrying a folder that he placed in front of Daisy.  
  
It was with an ironic lifting of her eyebrows that Daisy noticed Commander Walsh's signature was already in all the proper lines on the documentation as she skimmed through the pages.  
  
"You were pretty sure I'd make this decision, weren't you Commander?"  
  
"I learned a long time ago, Miss O'Mega, to cover all the possibilities," Walsh answered, sitting back in his chair, both arms crossed and resting on the desktop.  
  
Daisy chuckled once, and signed her name to the documentation with a flourish. The aide stepped forward to add his initials as an official witness before taking the folder and its contents from the room.  
  
As soon as he left, Walsh stood up behind his desk and said, "Now let's go. I've got to see Dr. Hunter and tell Captain Foxx about his new assignment."  
  
* * * *  
  
Goose had spent almost every minute of the day and more than a few nights keeping a vigil at Niko's bedside, leaving only when the nursing staff had driven him off to make certain that he actually did get some rest. At first, Niko had been afraid to be alone, and more than welcomed Goose's almost constant attention. But, as she became more alert, and began to regain more of her strength, she began dreading his visits while still at the same time looking forward to them. It started to become extremely difficult for Niko to hide her reactions from Goose and the rest of her teammates when they visited.  
  
The physician in charge of Niko's case was observant enough to catch the growing tension and anxiety in his patient and was smart enough to know that it was not something within his training and abilities to treat. He put a call in to the top psychiatric trauma team at BETA Mountain.  
  
It was after one such stressful visit with Niko that Doc caught up with Goose. Goose's face was shuttered and his tension was clearly visible in the tight set of his shoulders and hands that kept clenching and unclenching into fists.  
  
"Hey, Goose," Doc called out as he approached his friend.  
  
Goose didn't answer, but just nodded his head and kept on walking down the hallway.  
  
"How's Niko?"  
  
A growl, a shrug as he said, "I don't know anymore, Doc. I can barely get her to talk to me. Let alone tell me anything!"  
  
He looked like he wanted to punch something, anything, out.  
  
"That bad, huh?" Doc answered. "Well, Doc Hunter wants to talk to us. He's down in the lounge."  
  
Goose shrugged again and answered, "Sure, whatever."  
  
Doc turned and led the way with Goose close behind. The two entered the lounge and found the physician already talking to Zach.  
  
"Ah, Ranger Hartford, I see you found Ranger Gooseman," the physician said, breaking off his conversation with Zach.  
  
After Doc and Goose had taken a seat, he began, "Gentlemen, I've asked you here today because of Ranger Niko--" Goose stiffened in the seat he had just taken.  
  
"As you have noticed gentlemen, Ranger Niko has become extremely anxious, withdrawn and depressed as she has begun to recover from her physical injuries.  
  
"Gentlemen, from what you've told me, and from what Ranger Niko has said, I understand that the Queen of the Crown did some pretty awful things to her mentally while she was a prisoner. It is because of what happened that I've called in Drs. Hidoshi and Sterling..."  
  
"Shrinks," Goose said with a derisive snort.  
  
The doctor continued, "Please, Ranger Gooseman, hear me out. I brought them in because they are the best trauma psychiatrists around. Their specialty is mental trauma, such as what Ranger Niko suffered at the hands of the Queen of the Crown during her captivity."  
  
"But, that still doesn't explain why Niko's been withdrawing from us, trying to shut us out." Doc interjected.  
  
"Correct, Ranger Hartford," the physician answered. "The Queen completely subdued, and almost destroyed, the personality of the Niko that you know, and in place of that crushed personality, created an alternate persona in the Queen's likeness.  
  
"Now, Ranger Niko may have broken the Queen's programming but she is having a hard time adjusting to being Niko once again and feels a great amount of guilt for her part at the battle at Granna--"  
  
"What?" "Why" "How?" all three Rangers asked at once.  
  
"Survivor's Guilt, gentlemen," the doctor said, "is the term used to describe what Ranger Niko is going through. Survivor's guilt can be all encompassing and overwhelming and the survivor simply doesn't know how to deal with it. Hence, why I've called in Drs. Hidoshi and Sterling."  
  
The physician paused here for a moment, trying to choose his next words carefully. "After a preliminary discussion with them, they had one request to make"  
  
Goose frowned. He could sense that he wasn't going to like what the doctor had to say next.  
  
"Their request was that the three of you - Captain Foxx, Ranger Hartford and Ranger Gooseman, to abstain from visiting Ranger Niko for the next two weeks."  
  
"Two weeks? Why?" Goose blurted out.  
  
"Because, Ranger Gooseman," a new voice said. The Rangers turned as one to see Commander Walsh entering the room with Daisy O'Mega following cautiously behind. "They want that time to work intensively with Niko, and not have her distracted by your visits."  
  
"You see, Rangers, right now, you are a source of a great deal of Ranger Niko's anxiety. At this time, you represent to her, her guilt at being captured, for allowing the Queen of the Crown to make her into Kraya, and her own inability to help you during the Battle in the Granna System," the doctor continued with his explanation after a brief nod to Commander Walsh.  
  
"What?!" was Doc's exclamation.  
  
"Why that's just-" Zach struggled to find the right words.  
  
"No! It wasn't her fault!" Goose blurted.  
  
Daisy hovered in the doorway, unsure if she should come in or not.  
  
"She may know, intellectually, that it isn't her fault," the doctor said. "But, emotionally, she still is fighting herself. She believes that she is partly to blame for the battle, and the damage it caused."  
  
"Why?" was the one thing Doc asked.  
  
"Because of Kraya. The Queen had subverted her personality and she feels that she should have been able to prevent it. As part of the subversion, she willingly followed orders, orders that she would ordinarily think to be abhorrent, yet she followed them willingly. Brainwashing is terrible stuff, gentlemen, its effects don't end when the conditioning is broken. And that is why I've called in Drs. Hidoshi and Sterling, and why they made their request. They want the two weeks to 'deprogram,' if you will, the remnants of Kraya's personality from Ranger Niko's personality and to help her with the guilt she feels from what she did as 'Kraya.'"  
  
"Can we do anything to help?" Zachary asked. "We're her friends. If there's one thing Niko knows, it's us."  
  
"Gentlemen, the best thing for her right now is to allow Drs. Hidoshi and Sterling to do their work without you, her friends and teammates, around. They think that she will be more open with them if she doesn't feel like she has to hide what she is feeling from you." The doctor said apologetically.  
  
Commander Walsh spoke up, "In the meantime, Rangers, I've got an assignment for you."  
  
"An assignment?" asked Doc. "But will Niko be okay?"  
  
"Niko stands a good chance, Doctor Hartford," Hunter said. "But she has to start from scratch in finding who she is. I'm afraid that even though you want to help her, it's causing interference."  
  
None of the Rangers looked particularly happy about it, but they accepted the physician's word.  
  
"Interference?" asked Goose. "And what's the assignment?"  
  
"Anyway," said Walsh, indicating the door. "You can come in, Miss O'Mega."  
  
Daisy stepped hesitantly into the room, unsure of the reception she would get.  
  
"I'm sending you out after MaCross. Sources place him at the Kelldoran outpost. You're to go out there and bring him in."  
  
Goose's reaction to MaCross' name was to growl, then he stretched his lips in a thin smile. "Dead or alive, Commander?"  
  
"That dog is mine, Gooseman." Daisy snapped.  
  
Zach looked at Walsh, his question written on his face.  
  
"Miss O'Mega has renewed her license as a bounty hunter, and will be accompanying you on the trip out to Kelldoran," Walsh answered.  
  
"That's just fine, commander. When do we leave?" Doc asked.  
  
"Immediately, Ranger Hartford. Ranger One is being prepped as we speak," was the answer.  
  
O'Mega took a deep breath. "Never thought I'd be on your side of the laws, but Life's a strange thing. I'm ready to go." She pulled back her poncho to reveal two gleaming blasters that the Rangers could tell were quasi-legal. "Let's nab him," she said icily.  
  
"I expect to see Ranger One launch with in the hour, Rangers," Walsh stated.  
  
"Yes, sir," Zachary said, looking to his team. "Come on."  
  
* * * *  
  
Shane sat at the porthole watching the stars streak by. He had been there the whole trip out except for when he occasionally would take a quick nap, or when it was his turn to pilot the ship.  
  
Daisy noticed he was staring in the direction towards Earth. She worked up the courage to walk over and go talk to him. He seemed different, as if his swaggering bravado decided to run away from him. Then again, she thought, there's less wind in my sails as a result of all this.  
  
"Am I interrupting anything, Shane?"  
  
"Naah..." he said, turning around and managing a ghost of a smile.  
  
Daisy walked the rest of the way in the compartment and the hatch slid shut behind her. "Am I interrupting anything, Shane?" she asked again when he made no move to talk to her.  
  
"Yeah," he answered. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two as each tried to find something to say. "Daisy-"  
  
"Goose-" Daisy said at the same time.  
  
Shane took a deep breath. "Ladies first," he said feebly, attempting a joke.  
  
"Thanks," Daisy said, her smile quickly gone. "Shane," she asked. "How much of it all do you remember? The 'Crypt?"  
  
Goose's face tightened up and he said, "Too much..." His hands were clenched into fists as he said, "I remember all too well the Queen using my Slaverlord to torment Niko..."  
  
Daisy nodded with understanding. "I...didn't see what you did, Shane. The Queen mostly had me with the troops. She used you, I remember..."  
  
"...To torment Niko... to break her spirit and bend her to the Queen's will." Goose interjected.  
  
Daisy shuddered. "She used me, too. Niko's first 'lesson' was watching me be thrown into the blasted device."  
  
Goose nodded tightly. He had been present at that scene as a Slaverlord. "I...couldn't do anything!" he said, getting up and pacing the cramped space like a caged animal.  
  
"And whenever I tried to even reach out to Niko and tell her I was there..." he shuddered. "The Queen was there to torment me, and to make me feel less than human...."  
  
"Shane," Daisy said gently. "There was nothing you could have done. The Queen had us both dangling from a noose, and there was nothing --" her voice trailed off.  
  
Shane stopped his pacing to resume staring back out the portal. "Don't you think I know that?" he said in a ragged voice.  
  
Daisy came over and put an arm around his shoulders. Shane didn't shrug her off. After all the water under their bridge, anything went.  
  
"Shane, we were both puppets to the Queen..."  
  
"That still doesn't make it any easier to bear, any easier to live with," Shane said, not resisting the small comfort that Daisy offered him.  
  
"No, it doesn't... But..." she paused a moment before continuing, "I know, Shane. Especially since you're sweet on her."  
  
Shane smiled briefly, "Am I that obvious? First Doc, now you."  
  
"You wear your heart on your sleeve, Shane. One of the reasons I thought you were handsome when you dropped by the Cheyenne."  
  
"That seems like another lifetime ago," he answered.  
  
"You know, Shane, I think back now and I realize that I should have listened to you... Then I wouldn't have gotten in this mess in the first place."  
  
"But, Daisy, it was your warning that let BETA know that the Queen was up to something before it was too late to stop her."  
  
"Ah, yes.... it all comes back to her, doesn't it? God, that woman is a bitch! I hope that she gets what's coming to her in the end!" Daisy swore.  
  
"She will," he said, taking her hands. "Someday."  
  
"God, I hope you're right, Shane," Daisy took in a shuddering breath. "But you're right, that was another lifetime, Goose. I was... a little blind and a lot more confident when I met you last."  
  
"What else happened, Daisy? What did MaCross do to you?" Goose asked, looking for insight into the new version of the woman in front of him.  
  
Daisy pulled her hands away, edgy about having close contact with him all of a sudden and he wondered why. Maybe it was an after-effect of the Psychocrypt. After being deprived of a body, you came out of it being a little hyper-sensitive to touch for a few days. Or, maybe, it was something else... Shane asked again, "Daisy, what happened when MaCross captured you? Before he turned us over to the Queen of the Crown?"  
  
This time it was Daisy's turn to shudder, then begin pacing the small cabin like a caged animal. "Shane," she said, suddenly very shaken. "It... wasn't anything... You don't need..." Her face became closed and shuttered.  
  
Shane narrowed his eyes and asked, "What did that scumbag, MaCross do to you, Daisy?"  
  
"Nothing... I don't want to talk about it," Daisy denied.  
  
"Then why are you so hell-bent on bringing him in yourself?"  
  
She had no intention of re-opening a wound. "He hurt me, Shane," she said defensively. "That's all ya need to know!" She clasped her arms around herself as if suddenly cold, and she didn't seem to see him, her eyes staring unseeing past him out the porthole.  
  
Shane knew the look too well - it was the look of someone who'd been burned and was coming too close to the flames again. The words she left unsaid slammed into him like a sack of bricks. He got up from where he had been sitting next to the porthole and went to her side. "Daisy.... I'm sorry..."  
  
Daisy drew in a shuddering breath as Goose placed a hand on her shoulder. "The bloody bastard chained me up like a dog, and wouldn't even give me a chance to fight back," Daisy said brokenly, tears building up and escaping from the corners of her eyes.  
  
Still shaking, she said, "He used a pain inducer on me, a toy from the Queen..." She continued on a moment later in the same broken voice, "That- that was just the beginning,.. It wasn't enough for him just to rape me - no - he had to beat me too... That - bastard - broke my ribs when I tried to knock him off me... Then, he broke my jaw to shut me up..." She broke off, unable to continue, sobbing.  
  
Goose turned her to face him, and she wrapped both arms around him like he was a lifesaver. He was unprepared to deal with an uncontrollably weeping woman. He had no idea what to say, what to do, to comfort her. So, he just held her and said nothing, staying rock still, while she cried herself out. He had a feeling that she had to do that before she would be able to talk anymore.  
  
"Ah, and blast it!" she said in between sobs, her brogue even thicker then normal. "To let him do that to me..."  
  
Shane took a deep breath, and didn't say anything. His mind was going through several thousand scenarios Wolfden trained in him...the ways to kill someone.  
  
"Daisy," Goose said, after letting her cry for another minute. He took his red bandanna and offered it to her to wipe her tears away, "Here, use this."  
  
Daisy stepped away, her red cheeks were partially due to tears, and part to embarrassment. She took it and turned away from Shane to try and get her emotions back under control.  
  
"Daisy," he said again, trying to get his bearings as well.  
  
"What a sorry mess I am," Daisy said, not wanting to turn around.  
  
"He's scum, Daisy. We're going out there to nab him."  
  
"Aye, that he is," Daisy answered, still not facing him.  
  
The hatch to the compartment slid open and Doc stuck his head in. "Hey, My Gooseman!"  
  
"Doc, you've still got bad timing."  
  
Doc caught sight of Daisy's tear-stained face, and Goose's set expression and said, "Oops! I'll come back later."  
  
"No, it's all right, I was just going to my bunk anyway," Daisy answered, slipping past Doc and out the door.  
  
Doc exhaled. "I'm not gonna ask."  
  
Goose growled, "MaCross."  
  
Doc huffed. "'Nuff said."  
  
"I've got a big score to settle with that piece of slime." Goose's eyes narrowed to half-slits, looking out the door through which Daisy had escaped.  
  
* * * *  
  
The Kelldoran outpost was truly on the edge of League space. While it wasn't quite as bad as Tortuna, it did have more than its fair share of outlaws and criminals. It had taken the Rangers about a week in hyperspace to reach the outpost from BETA Mountain.  
  
Daisy had spent most of the time in silence, cleaning her weapons or pacing. When they landed, however, she was definitely changed. The calculating smile spread across her face, and she was first to the airlock. As they were getting ready to leave Ranger One, she insisted on going into the bar alone.  
  
Zachary protested but finally agreed that he and the other two Rangers would stand back-up outside the bar.  
  
Following Daisy out of the airlock, Doc commented, "Are you sure this is such a good idea, Zachary?"  
  
"I don't know, but I do know that if the three of us walk in there with O'Mega, there'll be enough trouble and distraction to have MaCross escape. Sending Daisy in alone is a bit more low-key. We'll guard the doors and have our blasters ready, just in case."  
  
"Just in case?" Doc questioned.  
  
"Just in case, Doc," Goose answered, watching Daisy closely as she weaved her way through the crowds.  
  
Doc sighed and loaded a full clip into his blaster. "'Just in case.' I love this job..." He had a sneaky feeling that he was going to need it.  
  
"Stop yappin', boys. I know which bar that scum's drinking swill at."  
  
Inside the bar, MaCross was enjoying a drink paid for with the reward money from the Queen. "An' here's ta Daisy," he chuckled. "May she and the Ranger boy be enjoyin' their time toget--"  
  
"MACROSS! Ye' scurvy dog!"  
  
MaCross whipped around, and his greenish face turned gray as his red eyes bulged nearly out of his skull. Bright and bold, there stood Daisy O'Mega. She paused in the doorway and put her hands on her hips. Patrons cleared a line of sight and a path to MaCross' seat.  
  
MaCross composed himself quickly. He had to maintain control.  
  
"We have a score to settle, MaCross..." Daisy called out loud enough for everyone in the bar to hear.  
  
"How did you wiggle out of the Queen's grasp?"  
  
"That doesn't matter, MaCross. What matters is that it's time for you to pay your dues."  
  
"What, you want more, bitch? You shoulda stayed with the Queen."  
  
"The Queen's hospitality was a mite better than yours, I'll admit," she purred. "But I plan on paying you back for yours."  
  
"You only got what was coming to you, Daisy," MaCross blustered.  
  
"Ha! I see you got delusions of grandeur from the Queen. Now, it's time for you to get what you deserve."  
  
Daisy strode across the bar and walked right up to MaCross' table. She sauntered up to him and picked up his drink. She sniffed at it before taking a sip. "Irish whiskey? You must miss me, darlin.'"  
  
MaCross sneered, "Get her, boys."  
  
"I don't think so," Patch leaned back in his chair. "This fight is all yours, MaCross."  
  
"You got paid your share of the reward money!" MaCross stared at him hard, and tried to spread the blame.  
  
"Only enough to drink," the dog-like alien, Dawdle, sitting next to Patch replied.  
  
"I thought you were a goner for sure, Daisy," MaCross stalled.  
  
"'Fraid of a lass, MaCross? You're not so brave if I'm not tied up." Daisy took the glass of whiskey and threw its contents in his face.  
  
"I ain't afraid of you, bitch. You just made the biggest mistake of your life," MaCross spluttered, jumping to his feet as he wiped the whiskey off his face.  
  
Daisy backed up and threw her large hat to the floor, crouching into a fighting stance. "I'm ready for a fair fight."  
  
Patch snickered. MaCross ignored him.  
  
MaCross charged at Daisy, enraged.  
  
She easily sidestepped his charge, laughing at him the whole time. Daisy knew that the angrier he got, the less control he had, and that was all to her advantage. "What's a'matter, darlin', have too much whiskey?" That caused the whole bar to start howling with laughter.  
  
"You wish," he muttered, and turned to charge her again.  
  
This time, his jaw met with a good uppercut from her right fist. Daisy put a foot out and swept his feet out from under him as he staggered back.  
  
He got back to his feet and lunged at her again.  
  
Daisy gave him another wallop whilst side stepping him.  
  
"Haven't you had enough, MaCross?" Patch shouted. "Looks like that last bottle did it to you." The rest of the bar howled in laughter, which enraged MaCross further. The patrons of the bar cleared a ring for the two fighters, cheering and making bets. Most of the cash was on Daisy.  
  
MaCross smacked Daisy. She faltered a bit, but returned with a kick to his groin.  
  
"That's for your hospitality."  
  
MaCross fell to his knees, trying to breathe. "You little bitch..." he said in between gasps.  
  
He got up and tackled Daisy. They both went down to the floor, and a card fell out of Daisy's vest.  
  
Daisy punched him again, solidly on the jaw this time and said, "Didn't your mother ever teach you that it's not nice to call a lady names?"  
  
"Yer no lady, slut."  
  
"Aye, I'm not." She rattled his teeth together with a boot to his jaw. "A slut, that is."  
  
In the back of the bar, Goose watched apprehensively; he was ready to step in if things got out of hand. This was Daisy's call, and even though she was handling it just fine, he still worried.  
  
Two ragged teeth fell from MaCross' jaw as he wiped away a trail of blood. He pulled a knife from his belt.  
  
"I took a piece of you last time, and I'll finish it this time," MaCross growled, moving forward with the knife in hand.  
  
"Not this time, bastard," Daisy said calmly. "You are finished MaCross." She twisted his knife arm up behind his back and knocked him face first back to the floor.  
  
MaCross turned over to see Daisy towering over him with the knife.  
  
"I'll get you yet," grumbled MaCross.  
  
"You can't even get up," Daisy said, holding the knife right at his throat.  
  
"He can't get it up, neither!" a heckler cried from the back of the crowd.  
  
MaCross struggled to prove her wrong, but couldn't get his feet under him. When he tried, Daisy swept his feet right out from under him again, and this time he lay on the floor, stunned. She stood over him, making sure MaCross knew she still had the knife.  
  
He started to feel real fear now.  
  
Daisy backed up a few feet and bent over to retrieve the small card which had fallen from her pocket during their struggle.  
  
"Not my style anymore. Lost it's appeal." She bent back over him and put force-cuffs on his wrists.  
  
"Hey, what is this?!" he sputtered.  
  
"You're going to meet some new friends o' mine, MaCross. I'm sure that they'll love your company. MaCross, I'm placing you under arrest for various crimes, not to mention rape, kidnapping, assaulting and attempted murder of a Galaxy Ranger."  
  
Everyone in the bar suddenly fell silent.  
  
She pulled him to his feet, and MaCross realized where he'd seen the card before... it was a bounty hunter's license - BETA issue. He had no time to respond as she began to pull him outside.  
  
"You bloody turncoat," he hissed. "How much are they payin' ya?"  
  
"That's right, MaCross, I'm a bounty hunter now," Daisy answered. "And the money's not why I'm doing this, MaCross-- it's seeing your ugly face behind bars, that's why."  
  
Zach called out from the back of the bar, "Would you like some help with your captive, Miss O'Mega?"  
  
She shoved him outside, into the waiting Goose and Doc, who started to read him his rights as they took him away.  
  
"If you please Captain, I've seen enough of him."  
  
"It would be my pleasure, Miss O'Mega," Zach replied with exaggerated courtesy.  
  
As they walked away, Goose moved to her side. "Did you get what you wanted?" he asked.  
  
Daisy thought it over. "I had the knife, Shane. Woulda' been so easy just to slice his throat."  
  
"But you didn't."  
  
"Aye, I didn't." Her voice was tinged with something Shane couldn't place. Regret? Disappointment?  
  
"It took a lot of courage to face him down and not kill him for what he did to you, Daisy," Shane said, watching her closely.  
  
"Wasn't courage, Shane... I've just left it all behind. Everyone'll know I've switched sides now. All my old friends will be wanting to come after me, and I'll have to be selling out some people I did let myself become friends with..."  
  
Suddenly Daisy stopped, placed a hand on his arm and reached up to place a light kiss on his face. "I'll be seeing you 'round the Galaxy, Shane," she said before turning and melting away into the crowds.  
  
Goose watched her go, shaking his head.  
  
"Goodbye, Daisy," he whispered.  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	13. Chapter XIII So, in answer to the praye...

Chapter XIII So, in answer to the prayer,  
  
The one you want is there,  
  
The one you feel inside of you.  
  
So, in answer to the dream,  
  
This time you are so clear;  
  
It's always got to be this way!  
  
Forever...  
  
Shock to the System, Yes  
  
It was a beautiful day at BETA Mountain on Earth as the sun began to set in the western horizon. Goose had been off duty all day and had spent most of it with Triton, avoiding Niko who was still on sick leave. Triton and a recently restored Mel had been waiting for their chance, and this seemed to be it. It was that time of day when it really wasn't night or day, but sometime in between. Long summers had a tendency to produce those nights, and Triton had suggested going for a ride up in the mountains, and then brought Mel in on it to get Niko to go along, saying she could use the exercise. Realizing that he was being outmaneuvered, but not understanding what was the ultimate goal, Shane had given in and asked Niko to go on a picnic with him.  
  
Now, as they rode side by side up the mountain paths, Shane sat on Triton, still thinking. Still avoiding Niko, you mean, an inner voice taunted. You already know what you have to say. Hell, you rehearsed it a dozen times before you asked her along on this ride.  
  
Triton looked up at the sky and then over to Mel. Their riders still weren't talking, they were going to have to do something here. Triton swished his tail, almost like a human would wave to another human. Mel bobbed his head in response and followed Triton onto a high plateau.  
  
Once they reached the top of the plateau, the horses stopped, allowing their riders to admire the view. The first few stars were starting to come onto the horizon. Niko dismounted and walked over to the edge of the plateau to get a better look. She spoke up for the first time in a while, "Why don't we stop here and have our picnic while we watch the stars come out."  
  
Shane took a deep breath. Now or never, Gooseman, he thought to himself, but all he said was, "Sure."  
  
He got off Triton and emptied the saddlebags, taking out a cooler and a hot pack. Niko got a blanket out of Mel's saddlebags and spread it out on the ground. The two worked around each other, in silence, neither one saying anything. Niko was too shy and too uncertain; Goose was too scared to come out and admit anything.  
  
Neither one of them really tasted the food. They sat there in silence, with too much to say and, neither knew how or where to start....  
  
Finally, Niko spoke. "Shane? Are you all right?"  
  
"Yeah... yeah, I'm all right.... just thinking is all," Shane answered, gulping down the bite of food he had in his mouth. He was so nervous, he couldn't believe it.  
  
"I was...thinking, too. Remembering what happened... I try not to think about it, but 'Kraya' is always going to be there."  
  
He nodded silently and started to put everything back in the packs, aside from the blanket, which they both still sat on.  
  
While the two had been eating, Mel and Triton had used the opportunity to try and sneak away, stranding their riders. Suddeny realizing he was hearing hoof beats, Shane looked up. "What the---" He stood up and yelled after them. "Triton!"  
  
Niko also bolted up and shouted out for Mel, but the horses were out of earshot. She sighed. "Guess that means we walk back."  
  
"And, never hear the end of it from Doc?" Shane asked, staring at the path their horses had taken.  
  
"So, we wait them out?" Niko asked, looking up at his face.  
  
"Yeah," was the answer. "They have to come back sooner or later."  
  
Dead silence lingered between the two for several moments as Niko tried to work up the nerve to ask Shane about what had happened when she had first woken up, and Shane gave himself hell for being so afraid to express his feelings for her.  
  
Niko blinked and shook her head. "Did you just say something?"  
  
"No, I didn't."  
  
"Strange," she said. "I could have sworn you said something..."  
  
There are some things that even a Supertrooper can't do... There it was again--that thought-voice that Niko knew had to be coming from Shane.  
  
"Look, Niko..." Goose began, at the same time as Niko said, "Shane, there's something I've been meaning to ask you..."  
  
They both broke off and tried again, "Niko, look..." and Niko said, "Shane..."  
  
"You first."  
  
"No, you go first."  
  
Goose looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Niko blushed bright red. Silence fell between them again as they tried to decide what to say.  
  
"Did you want to go first, Shane?" Niko asked after another long pause. Someone had to break the ice here...  
  
"Not really..."  
  
Triton picked this up through his audio sensors. "It won't work, Mel," grumbled the white robosteed to his companion.  
  
Mel answered, "Give them time, Triton. They won't be going anywhere for a while..."  
  
"I sometimes wish they weren't so stubborn."  
  
"What do you expect? They're working with organic parts, not machine minds."  
  
"True," said Triton.  
  
Back on the plateau, things had fallen into stony silence again. The temperature was falling as well. After a long time, Niko pulled herself into a cross-legged sitting position on the blanket. She said hesitantly, "Shane, Doc told me that you didn't leave my side when I was in a coma."  
  
Shane licked his lips and took in a deep breath. Doc... even after he had make the hacker swear not to tell anyone. "Doc..." Goose swore. "You're in trouble now..."  
  
"Huh?" Niko said. "Why is he in trouble? All he said to me was that you stayed by me the whole time, as did Dr. Davis, and the rest of the medical staff."  
  
"Nothing... Doc just can't keep his mouth shut," Goose grumbled, fighting back a blush.  
  
"Would he be Doc if he did?" Niko asked, looking at him.  
  
Goose chuckled. At least it was an ice breaker.  
  
Niko sighed and crossed her arms as if to ward off a chill.  
  
"Yeah, where would we be without Doc?" Shane commented, before reaching over and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Cold?"  
  
Niko decided to take advantage of the opening, "Yeah, I guess, a little."  
  
Shane scooted closer to her. This was safe. Nothing too heavy or dangerous...he tried to take a deep breath, and quell the panic-like feeling in his gut.  
  
Niko looked at him curiously. "Shane, what are you so nervous about?"  
  
He didn't realize that his hand was across her shoulders, nor that she was leaning a bit into him.  
  
"Nervous? Me?" he tried to cover it with bravado but instead, took a deep breath. "I'm nervous..."  
  
"So am I...and I think it might be the same reason."  
  
* * * *  
  
From their listening post, Triton said in a low voice, "I think it's working...finally."  
  
"About time," Mel countered. "Ever since the Scarecrow, I was wondering when they'd realize it."  
  
Then Triton said, "Shhh... they're finally talking!"  
  
* * * *  
  
Shane pulled back and looked at Niko. Now, he was really nervous. He didn't know where to go from here. He fumbled for something to say....  
  
Niko choked out the first words, every bit as nervous as he was, "Shane...you and I have been through a lot."  
  
How, where could he even begin to explain his feelings... he nodded, "Niko, I..." Oh, hell, Shane. You choked like this back at Wolf Den, don't blow it now! His conscience told him. But Niko means a lot more to me... he answered himself, trying to justify his stalling. His words were jerky and halting, "Niko, there's something I told Doc... something he didn't tell you because I made him swear not to."  
  
Niko looked up at him expectantly.  
  
It was now or never, he told himself, "Niko, I didn't want to leave you... I couldn't leave you. If I had lost you... I would have lost more... more than a friend. Oh, hell, I... don't know how to say this..." Shane stumbled.  
  
"I do... Because," Niko said, her voice halting and stumbling over every word. "Because I love you, too."  
  
Goose let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. His green eyes went wide with shock, and he physically pulled back from her.  
  
"You.... you do?" he asked.  
  
After it sunk in, Shane blinked. Niko could notice, even from a few feet away, that he was shaking. Gently, she reached out and stroked his jaw with the back of her hand, nodding.  
  
"Are you afraid of me?" she asked quietly, suddenly dropping her head and looking away in shame. "After all that with 'Kraya...'"  
  
Goose protested, "No! It has nothing to do with Kraya! Niko, you know I wouldn't," he stumbled "how could I?" He took her hand within his own. "The Queen tried to destroy the person you were. She brainwashed you, and implanted the Kraya personality. I was there Niko, I know what she did to you."  
  
Shane paused, tormented by self-doubt, "Niko, do yourself a favor... don't let yourself do this... You deserve better."  
  
"Better?" She asked, confused.  
  
He pulled his hands away, lest he be too tempted not to let them - or her - go.  
  
"Why do you say that?" Niko asked, trying to follow his logic.  
  
"You should be going after a man who can give you what you deserve... I can't give you any kind of life. I'm just a Supertrooper, a killer. You don't deserve that."  
  
That got Niko angry. With fire in her eyes she said, "Don't give me that, Shane! You're more than 'just a Supertrooper!'"  
  
Shane was thrown off guard, and didn't know quite what to say. He wanted her close (oh, did he ever want her), but what kind of future would they have? "If this doesn't work...I don't want to hurt you. The last thing I want to do is hurt you."  
  
He scrambled to his feet and paced around, running a hand through his hair, unsure of what to do, what to say....  
  
Niko was frowning as she too got to her feet and walked towards him with a purposeful look in her eyes.  
  
Triton's audio sensors picked all this up. This was turning the wrong way.  
  
"Shane," Niko said. "We're both rangers. I know that a stray Crown blast, a lucky shot by the Black Hole Gang, or something detonating with one of us in it are possibilities we have to live with. I don't want to die, but I'm not going to let that stop me from living, either." she said, moving closer to him.  
  
Goose knew she was right, but still.... He swallowed nervously, but made no move away. "Niko, there's a lot that I don't understand... with you... it's strange, almost alien... Battle-fever, rage, lust... I understand. When I look at you... I don't understand anymore."  
  
Niko smiled, now she was getting somewhere. "So let me teach you," she said quietly, as she moved up next to him. She stood on her tip-toes and lightly placed her lips on his.  
  
He was stunned for a moment, then relaxed, putting his arms around her. At the same time, cold and hot shivers ran up and down his spine.  
  
Niko leaned back in his arms and put her hands on his chest as she said, "That was lesson one."  
  
Shane didn't want this to end, didn't want to let her go. He sighed, not taking his arms from around her waist. "Beats battle simulation," he said with a very lopsided grin.  
  
Niko returned the grin as she leaned forward, and this time put her arms around his neck. She pulled Shane's head down to her and soundly kissed him again.  
  
His arms tightened around her in reflex. This was the same, and yet so different. He'd had other women, inconsequential, physically pleasurable flings. When he thought of Niko, his blood burned with an alien but pleasant emotion. Shane was fast loosing all rational thoughts. Gladly, eagerly, he leaned into her kiss, ready to let himself do whatever this new feeling led to.  
  
Love. His mind played with the word. A word so simple for something so wonderful and frightening at the same time. When had this started, what brought him here? A million memories, a cauldron of emotions that a Poe Mutant Sensation doll couldn't hope to beat, all swirled around with the hot and cold flashes. Standing by her with danger, watching her laugh, talking to her for hours on end, or having silent conversation in the interceptor... He tried to remember when thinking of Niko hadn't brought up those kind of emotions and couldn't.  
  
Eventually, they ended the kiss, both needing to come up for air.  
  
It took Shane a few moments to ask in a voice that wasn't too steady, "Lesson Two?"  
  
Niko kept her head down and against his chest afraid to look up and see the reaction upon his face. She idly played with the short hair at the back of his neck. "Up to you."  
  
Shane took a deep breath, and tried to stay steady, failing miserably. "Oh man, am I outta my league...." he muttered, before bending his head back down to kiss her thoroughly once more....  
  
"Niko," he said quietly, yet oddly firm, when he ended the kiss. "Niko, I love you. I'm still trying to understand what it means, but I love you."  
  
* * * *  
  
A few clicks away, Triton and Mel picked those words up on their audio sensors.  
  
"Mission accomplished," said Mel.  
  
"They certainly took their time," Triton snorted, tossing his head. "Humans," the white horse grumbled. "We will return for them in the morning."  
  
"In the meantime?" asked Mel.  
  
"Not my concern," said Triton and powered down for the night.  
  
So be it, Mel thought, following Triton's example. The less distractions their riders had for the moment, the better...  
  
* * * *  
  
On the plateau top, night had finally fallen, leaving the clear summer sky, with the moon and stars being the only light within eyesight.  
  
Niko burrowed closer into Shane's arms. She was happy that she had finally gotten the answer she had wanted out of him. His heart was racing against hers, and his arms were trembling with the sheer awe of it all. Gods, when hadn't she dreamed of this?  
  
Niko tipped her head back to look at him and said, "I thought that once I told you, that I wouldn't be scared by how I feel for you anymore... and here I am still trembling," she admitted with a nervous laugh.  
  
"I'm not so steady myself," he said.  
  
"You, Shane Gooseman, the lady killer himself--" she joked, laughing lightly.  
  
"--Has been killed by his own prey," he answered, before kissing her again. It was electrifying this time, sending jolts down his spine. Her ribs under his fingers, her lean body...the fast beat of her heart. His lips began to roam, kissing her ear, her forehead, her long neck.  
  
"Over there," Niko breathed, gesturing to the blanket. "Might be a better place to continue this. I'm not going to be able to stand much longer."  
  
Giving her a wolfish grin Shane said, "I didn't intend to allow you to stand much longer."  
  
They led each other to the blanket and lay next to each other, their legs were now starting to tangle together. Neither was sure who made the first move past that, but it was definitely the right move, and the two showered each other with intimate attention. Buttons and fasteners slowly came undone, and no word was spoken between them. Finally, it was only the touch of flesh against flesh, and both of them gasped with the contact.  
  
Shane reached underneath her head, fingers tangling with her fire-red hair. "You are beautiful."  
  
Niko blushed bright red at his words, and Shane noticed just how far the blush went. She reached up and brushed a stray lock of blond hair from his face. "So are you. In body and soul."  
  
Shane gasped, and could only gaze at her for the longest time before leaning down to kiss her one last time. After that, there was no need for words. Only the primalness of this moment, the joy in sharing it with the woman he loved.  
  
The night was indeed powerful magic, but not the magic of destruction, not the magic of Supertrooper and Kraya - but of Shane and Niko - lovers at last.  
  
* * * *  
  
The sun came up slowly and awareness returned. At first, Shane thought it was a dream. It couldn't have been real, then his senses began feeding him information. A smell came to his nose-- tingling at the back of his head the slight scent of spices and wild flowers, the feel of silken hair tickling his face, the heaviness and warmth of arms twined with his and the sound of someone breathing peacefully next to him all seemed too beautiful to be true. He was afraid to open his eyes and find that it was indeed a dream. When he did open his eyes, he saw a pair of blue-violet ones staring back.  
  
"This can't be real..." he thought.  
  
A thought tickled the back of his mind, It's no dream, love. I'm here.  
  
The blue-violet eyes crinkled up at the corners he noticed, as she smiled and said, "Good morning."  
  
Shane had a hard time getting the messages from his mind to his mouth and couldn't think of a single thing to say. He finally reached over and gave her a long slow kiss before getting up and trying to find his chronometer in the pile of garments left over from last night. If he had looked into those eyes any longer, who knew what would happen, he thought... then he smiled but who was there to care.  
  
Niko lay there wrapped in one of the blankets, watching Goose as he got dressed. With a sigh, she also got up, keeping the blanket carefully wrapped around her and picked up her clothing from the pile.  
  
"So," Shane said, trying to feign casual, but feeling confused as hell. "You want to pick up breakfast?"  
  
Niko noticed him watching her and she blushed red, holding the blanket up higher around herself.  
  
"Well, we never did finish what was left in the picnic basket..." she floundered, trying like him to be nonchalant.  
  
Finally, it got to him. Fastening the last button on his shirt, he walked over to the picnic basket and dug out the still-full, and still-hot thermos of coffee and the two mugs. "I'll get it," he said, glad to have something to do to keep his wandering eyes off of her.  
  
While he had his back turned, Niko hurriedly got dressed. Not understanding why she was so shy around him all of a sudden...  
  
Keeping his back to her to give her some privacy, Shane poured the two mugs of coffee. He kept looking back, though. She was beautiful...just incredible, too. He tried to blot out the memory of running his fingers through her long, red hair, of holding her... It felt so good, damn it. To finally give in after holding back for...hell, at least a year and a half.  
  
Niko's cheeks were stained bright red... she had let her shields down the night before, and hadn't thought to raise them back up. So now, she was picking up on all his thoughts.  
  
Every time their eyes met though, she blushed. Shane was so unsure of how to take that... it was what she wanted... right? Frustrated, he looked through the basket for something to eat. Part of him was wishing that it wasn't a mistake and that he'd have more mornings like this one. Part of him was wishing that she'd just call it a moment of weakness and a one- night stand.  
  
Niko was just as confused as Goose and didn't know where to go from there either...  
  
"You know," Shane finally said. "That we can't continue this... much as I want to." He knew all too well that the Series 5 Project was the only thing keeping him from an icy coffin.  
  
Niko came and stood next to him and took his hand within her own trembling ones, trying to think of what to say to break the tension. She sighed; his was a tough one to answer. If the brass ever found out about this, they would be separated. Either that, or "asked" to discontinue the relationship. She said with much hesitation, "I'm... I just don't know what to do next."  
  
Shane looked down at the small hand in his and turned to face her. But, on the other hand, to hell with the brass. What did they care about human emotions? Clearing his throat he said, still looking down at her hand in his, "Or we could try to keep it quiet."  
  
"And not tell anyone, not even Zachary or Doc," Niko answered in a soft voice.  
  
Nodding his head in agreement, Shane raised her face and brushed his lips lightly against hers.  
  
Niko gladly responded, deepening the kiss.  
  
Shane was so unused to being able to touch or feel much of anything, this was pure joy. He could be happy that moment, laying down everything without a struggle.  
  
The kiss would have gone on much longer had not the cyberhorses chose that moment to make their return.  
  
"What do suppose they are doing, Triton?" the bronze-colored horse asked.  
  
Triton let out what almost sounded by a human chuckle, "Something I do not know much about, but I'd guess that they are enjoying it."  
  
Shane and Niko broke off the kiss to look up at the cyberhorses.  
  
"Triton, old buddy," Shane said. "You are in big trouble."  
  
Triton answered, "We could always go off and leave you again..."  
  
Niko couldn't help it, she started laughing. "You did this on purpose!"  
  
Triton's silence on the subject said it all.  
  
"Damn..." Goose said, giving in and chuckling, "I should have known it."  
  
"I am not programmed to go against Niko's wishes," Mel said in his ever calm voice.  
  
"But I never..." Niko started to protest.  
  
Shane turned and smiled looking down at Niko "But you never what?"  
  
Then she stopped, and started blushing furiously once again, "Oh my... the conversation with Ariel..."  
  
"And I'm not in any position to disobey my rider, either," Triton answered.  
  
"Ariel?" He blinked, confused as he looked between Niko and Triton. "What conversation... what are you talking about?" he asked.  
  
"I had a conversation with Ariel on the Cheyenne on the way back to Earth from Granna..." Niko answered.  
  
"You did Goose. when she was comatose due to the Scarecrow's last attack, you expressed a wish to talk to her alone once she had recovered," Triton said at the same time.  
  
"I.. didn't..." he stood there staring at his mount. "I think someone needs a new memory bank," he grumbled at last.  
  
"I came up here to just talk. I didn't--" Niko cut herself off before she said too much. She blushed bright red again.  
  
"Maybe it's time we should be getting back," she said, still looking at her mount.  
  
"Wait!" Shane said, throwing an irritated look at Triton, "We aren't finished yet!"  
  
"We were done talking about it Shane, I don't know what else is there to say... you aren't changing your mind... are you?" she asked, her voice faltering at the end. Gods, they had come this far only to have him get cold feet...  
  
He walked over to her, and placed one hand on her arm, pulling her up to face him, and another hand gently captured her chin bringing her face up so he could kiss her once more.  
  
"Does that answer your question?" he asked after ending the kiss.  
  
"I think so," she answered and kissed him.  
  
  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


	14. Epilogue Something wicked this way comes

EPILOGUE And the heads they are a rolling  
  
Cause the conqueror is on his way  
  
And the justice day is coming  
  
For the conqueror is on his way  
  
Genesis, The Conqueror  
  
The Queen of the Crown sat on her throne re-hashing all that happened at Granna: her fleet had been almost completely destroyed, Kraya had betrayed her, and she had not gotten any human Slaverlords out of the deal. In a foul mood, she began thinking of ways to deal with those infernal Rangers once and for all. She stared into a shard of starstone, focusing on rage, letting the anger flow through her.  
  
"I had been so close!" she cursed to herself, building on her foul mood, and letting the dark power of rage wrap itself around her.  
  
The starstone melted away, faster than normal.  
  
"And then she betrayed me! I had her - body and mind... just when I could almost control her spirit as well! Damn those Rangers and their infernal consciences!" she swore.  
  
Her ruby eyes narrowed as the starstone turned to dust, replenishing her energy - for now. The Queen looked straight ahead of her, into the faint glow of the forcefield shielding the vault before her. But, all was not lost.... she still had the Eliza Foxx Psychocrystal. Gherkins could be controlled. Gherkins could be made into willing slaves...just when she thought she could control a human - any human, that control eluded her grasp like an illusion. Even Eliza was hardly worth the bother anymore.  
  
She stared at the vault in front of her for another spell, and sighed. Things were not going well. She had known that for a long time. First the Andorain and Kiwi had the gall to rebel and form that League of Planets. Then, the Gherkins refused to reproduce due to their captivity. After that, she had found humans... But, just when she thought that she had found the one thing to extend her life-force indefinitely, it became the one thing she couldn't get.  
  
The Queen stood up and strode over to the vault. She banished the forcefield surrounding it with a wave of her hand and took out the Eliza Foxx crystal. She swiped it up into her talon like fingers and stared angrily down at the face of Eliza Foxx, reflected in the surface of the crystal.  
  
"I will squash you, your husband and those toy soldiers at BETA yet!" Her anger continued to build even more. "I will have your entire race under my thumb yet!" She swore as she moved back to her throne.  
  
Smiling, she held the crystal close to her face, seemingly to look into the eyes of the face that it held.  
  
"After that, Eliza," she said. "I will destroy you right before his eyes. My crypt will be filled with more... cooperative subjects. When I have deprived them of hope, they will bow to me." She purred, "Then, I'll be strong enough again. Nothing will stop me. Not the Moons of Tarkon, not the League, and certainly not..."  
  
She stopped and laughed low in her throat. "They trained the girl well, but I almost had her. She still has potential... oh, yes. With her at my side, you fools will be very sorry for sending me away..."  
  
She sat up straight in her throne once more and said, "Guards, tell Captain Orthallan that I want to see him immediately."  
  
A tall purple-skinned humanoid guard walked into the throne room and stopped before the throne. He bowed low to the Queen and said, "Your Highness, Captain Dorell is pleased to report that his skirmish has taken out three League Battleships."  
  
"All very well, but I have summoned you for another purpose, Captain. I'm pulling you off border patrol and reassigning you to Tortuna."  
  
"Is my performance not pleasing you?" Orthallan said, looking up. "I have tried to serve you..."  
  
She put the Psychocrystal away in an inner pocket on her cape and explained, "No, I have something else I need for you to do... Orthallan," she said. "I am taking you off because you are my finest agent. I have...another duty for you. A trap to lay. Those interfering meddlers, the Galaxy Rangers. I want to take care of them once and for all. I plan," she said. "To capture the Series Five Ranger Team."  
  
Orthallan's eyes grew large. "A difficult task, Your Majesty."  
  
"But one I entrust to you, Orthallan," she said. "It isn't enough for me to take them, and try to separate them. No, I must have them all in order to destroy them. I have tried attacking their unity, but in that, they are strongest."  
  
"I see, Your Majesty," Orthallan answered.  
  
"I want you to capture and then, separate them... physically and mentally." The Queen nodded. "I will give you instructions. Governor Jaaker of Tortuna will put you in a convincing situation."  
  
"Very well, your Majesty. When do I leave?"  
  
"Immediately." The Queen answered. "By the time that you reach Tortuna, Governor Jaaker will have everything set-up for you.  
  
"You are dismissed," said the Queen as Orthallan rose to his feet and was walked out by two Slaverlords.  
  
She sat back on her throne as the captain bowed and left the throne room.  
  
Oh yes.... she had plans for those Rangers.....  
  
~finis~  
  
To be continued in Chrysalis...  
  
As always, feedback is most welcome! "Help humanity! Feed the Heidmeister!" - LadyNiko@betamountain.org 


End file.
